Dark Majik
by Vegeta Goddess
Summary: (GB)Goku is the devil and he's determined to seduce Bulma and bring about the Armageddon. Will he convince her to stay with him for all eternity... or will Vegeta save her soul? - CHAPTER 15 POSTED!
1. The Dream

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters from it.**

**A/N - This is a complete and utter re-write of my old fic. It's still a Goku/Bulma fic, but its been changed quite dramatically. I mean, I've kept the _basic_ plot line intact, but I've also added in some new scenes and explained some stuff better. Trust me, if you liked the old Dark Majik, then you're going to love the 2003 version!**

**~*~ Chapter One ~*~**

The hot sun beat down on Bulma as she ran, sweat glistening on her heaving chest and her breath sobbing in her throat. She sprinted across the yard, her hair hanging around her face in ratty tangles, dampened with sweat and grime.

A towering brick wall seemed to almost spring from the earth ahead of her and Bulma let out a moan of fear as she crashed up against it, beating her fists against the sun-warmed bricks in a futile attempted to knock it down.

"Somebody help! He's after me! Please!" Bulma sobbed in terror as she heard a noise behind her and turned around swiftly. She backed up until her back hit the wall, clutching at it as she panted, her eyes darting around in search of a hiding place, in search of an escape route, in search of anything! 

But she had finally run out of hiding places.

"Help! Somebody!" Tears trailed down her face as darkness slithered into the yard.

The snake was glistening wetly in the sun, its red scales giving the illusion that it was coated thickly in blood. It fixed evil black eyes upon her, watching her with a steady gaze, then it began to inch its way forward. 

Bulma could only stare at it, mesmerized by her death as it slowly began to slither forward, the gravel crunching under it as the giant serpent approached her.

"Somebody…" Bulma sank down against the wall, tears continuing to slowly fall down her face as the snake wound itself around her ankle and slithered up her leg. She choked on bile as it wound itself around her thigh and squeezed it in an almost sexual way. Its tongue darted out near her crotch, as though tasting her sex, and Bulma let out a small wail. 

Slowly, the snake made its way up her stomach, over her heaving breasts, and raised itself up until it was looking eye to eye with her.

_I see you…_

"Please…go away…" Bulma whispered as the snake's eyes bored into hers.

_I've found you…_

The snake wavered hypnotically in front of her, swaying from side to side, then it reared back and hissed, showing wicked fangs. Bulma only had time to let out a blood-curdling scream as the snake struck at her throat, sinking those fangs into her neck an marking her…

**~*~*~*~**

"NO!" Bulma sat up in bed, her heart pounding. For moment she sat in her sweat-drenched sheets, shaking with fear and listening to her heart pound. Then, with a weak cry, she flopped back down and wiped the tears from her face.  "It was just a dream…Just a dream."

The curtains flapped noisily around the window and Bulma stood up. She padded quietly over to the window, breathing in a deep breath of the sweet night air before closing it.

For the briefest of seconds Bulma had the strangest feeling that she had forgotten something important, then the feeling faded and she was left only with a great feeling of loneliness as she gazed out at the star-filled sky.

Something was coming…

**~*~*~*~**

"Shit! Look out!" Yamcha tried to stifle an almost girlish squeal as he ducked down in his seat, digging his nails into the arm rests as Vegeta drove them towards Bulma's house.

"Fun, isn't it!" Vegeta voice was filled with exhilaration.

"Dude! Slow Down!" Yamcha yelled above the noise of the growling car engine and whistling wind. Vegeta merely changed gears and accelerated even more, an evil smirk on his face. 

"Do you like the car?" He changed lanes without looking and glanced at Yamcha, who was staring straight ahead, his lips moving as he silently prayed. "Hey!" He waved a hand in front of Yamcha's face, the car veering out of its lane again as he did so. "I asked if you liked the car. I got it yesterday."

"It's...Oh, dear Jesus! It's very fast…and noisy…and fast! Oh, God! Vegeta! Please watch the road!" Yamcha pointed at the oncoming traffic as Vegeta accidentally veered onto the wrong side of the road.

"Sorry about that, complete accident," Vegeta murmured as he watched Yamcha's reaction with glee. 

Yamcha, meanwhile, tried to calm his beating heart as Vegeta narrowly missed sideswiping a Semitrailer. "What kind of car did you say it was again?"

"A Lotus. You need to listen better." Vegeta turned onto Bulma's driveway without braking, and with a squeal of the tires he slammed on the brakes suddenly, spraying gravel all over her front lawn. "Come on, dude, our ladies are waiting." Vegeta vaulted out of the car and sauntered inside.

Yamcha shakily stood up and followed him in. "Maniac…"

**~*~*~*~**

Bulma, Marron, and Yamcha sat outside on the deck of Bulma's pool, apparently deeply engrossed in conversation…

"And then he asked me out! I mean, the nerve!" Marron sipped a little more of her drink and then giggled brainlessly. "Isn't that silly? Don't you think so? Yamcha? Yamcha? Isn't that silly?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, the nerve, right." Yamcha closed his eyes and swallowed another pull of beer, trying to concentrate on looking cool - which wasn't easy when he was still white as a sheet after hitching a ride with Vegeta.

 "So, Bulma, are you coming to the club with us tonight?" Vegeta was floating in the pool on a giant inflatable crocodile, dark sunglasses shielding his eyes as he watched the blue-haired beauty twirl her hair around her finger nervously.

Something was up, he could feel it.

"I don't know, I mean, I have to get some sleep. I've been up these past few nights trying to figure out how to reroute the power through the alternate coup links without causing any molecular damage of the inner core of the simulator." Marron, Yamcha, and Vegeta gave her blank stares and Bulma sighed. "I'm trying to figure out how to make the computer work." They still stared at her blankly and Bulma gave up trying to explain to them.

"Yeah, but are you coming with us or not?" Yamcha sat up and watched Bulma intently. "We need you to even the numbers for our outing." 

"I don't know..."

"Oh, come on, Bulma! Why not?" Marron watched her friend over the top of her dark glasses as she sipped juice, her eyes filled with the single-minded emptiness that only blondes and bimbos seem to have.

"Look, I haven't been sleeping well. I've been having these weird dreams..." Bulma shivered as she remembered the snake and the way it had looked at her.

She could even remember its voice, and how lustful it had sounded…

_I see you…_

"What kind of dreams?" Vegeta jolted her out of her thoughts by splashing water on her. "I asked you what kind of dreams you'd been having."

"Scary ones, okay?" Bulma crossed her arms defensively.

"Is that why you screamed this morning? I thought you'd just woken up with a stranger in bed again!" Marron giggled at her joke then returned to sipping juice.

"It's not funny! I don't know why I hang around with you guys!" Bulma crossed her legs and sulked. If they knew how these dreams felt…how real they seemed, they wouldn't be laughing at her.

"Oh, Bulma! We're your buddies! We have been since high school!" Vegeta pulled himself out of the pull and scooped Bulma up in his arms. "Besides, I'm not going to let anything hurt you." Hs eyes were surprisingly intense for once. "Nothing is going to hurt you while I'm around." 

Bulma frowned up at him as the same feeling of having forgotten something returned to her and something inside of her twisted sharply.

_I see you…_

There was something she had to do…The club…she had to go there…_He was waiting_…

Bulma's eyes glazed over. "Okay," she murmured, "I'll come to the club"

**~*~*~*~**

"This is so awesome!" Yamcha yelled over the music, Marron nodding and giggling soundlessly as she began to gyrate wildly to the music. Bulma and Vegeta followed them slowly into the depths of the club.

"So, where did you hear about this club?" Bulma leant close to Vegeta, avoiding the groping hands of several drunken men who were staggering through the crowd and heading towards the bar. 

"I found a flyer for it stuck under the windscreen wiper of my car…That, and a parking ticket." Vegeta scowled.

Bulma laughed and followed him closely, never noticing the dark-haired stranger whose eyes followed her as she made her way through the club.

The stranger swallowed as he forced himself to remain still. He couldn't go to her, not while she was with _him_.

"Hey? You want to dance?" Vegeta asked casually. Bulma shook her head.

"I'll just stay here for the moment, you go and enjoy yourself." Vegeta nodded and took off into the depths of the crowd. Bulma watched in amusement as several ladies detached themselves from their respective partners and headed over towards him.

Vegeta just had that effect on women.

"You know it isn't safe to be by yourself in a place like this." Bulma looked up as a spiky, raven-haired man sat down next to her. He slipped her an easy-going grin as his eyes travelled down her body in a way which was beyond sexual.

It was possessive.

"My name's Goku, by the way. I own this club." He watched her intently as though expecting her to know him.

Bulma stared back and frowned as she felt _that_ _something_ inside of her twist again. Goku was…gorgeous. She reached out a hand as if in a daze and Goku kissed it. 

"And who might you be?" His voice was deep, rich, and…familiar?

"My name is…Bulma" She blushed against her will. "Bulma Briefs."

Goku settled back against the chair with a grin on his face. "That's a beautiful name, it suits you." He dragged his eyes away from her and looked around his club. "I can't believe I finally own my own club." He looked back at Bulma and his look intensified. "I've been dreaming of _this_ moment for so long."

"Really?" Bulma blinked as he caught her eyes with his. She felt almost drunk from the look he was giving her. "Owning a club is your dream?" 

Bulma smiled without knowing it; something about him seemed so…trustworthy. He seemed like the kind of person you could tell your deepest secrets too.

"Well, it has been as of late." He seemed amused by something.  "I've found that the kinds of people who come to clubs are the ones who I can benefit from in my other line of work."

"What's your other line of work?" Bulma crossed her legs and began to twirl a strand of hair around her finger, unconsciously flirting.

"I deal in a… in an exchange business of sorts. I give people what they want in exchange for their…" Goku trailed off, his last word muffled by the music.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that?" Bulma leant closer to him and froze. 

Tattooed on his right arm was a snake so red it was almost iridescent. It had black eyes so endless that they seemed to pull her in, just like the snake in her dream. Bulma jerked back as her heart began to pound harder and she realized she had been leaning closer to the snake. 

"I should really be going. I'm here with friends and they…" Bulma started to stand up, but Goku put a restraining hand on hers and eased her back down into her seat. 

"They don't care about you. Vegeta's busy sweet-talking a blonde and Marron and Yamcha are in one of the bathrooms at the back. I can assure you, they _won't_ miss you."

Bulma's mouth dropped open. "How do you know that?" Time seemed to freeze as she stared suspiciously at the tall, dark stranger called Goku. His eyes were haunting; they were pulling her in, just like the snake's eyes…

Goku grinned again and life seemed to return to normal. "I make it my business to know what goes on in my club. Say, Bulma, would you like to dance?"

"I…guess so…but I can't really dance." Bulma allowed Goku to lead her to the dance floor.

"Sure you can, you just need to relax…" Goku wrapped his muscular arms around her, pulling her closer to his body. They began to move in time to the music, swaying together hypnotically. 

_I've found you…_

Bulma's eyes grew heavier and the room seemed to spin, with a small sigh she sagged into Goku's arms and was oblivious as his grin melted away and he quietly left the room with her in his arms.

"I've found you."

**~*~*~*~**

**A/N - Please review! Let me know what you think of this chapter! Oh, and thanks to Ane S. Thesia, my wonderful beta reader!**


	2. The Truth

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter Two ~*~**

****

Goku kicked the door to his office closed behind him and strode purposefully over to his desk, sweeping everything that was on it onto the floor in an oddly careless motion with his arm. With a gentleness which was in direct contrast to his nature Goku then gently laid Bulma down upon it and gently traced the curve of her lips as his eyes devoured her.

"He's gotten careless. Once I never would have gotten this close to you." His voice was soft as he lent down and breathed in her scent. He smiled to himself a he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a pair of manacles. For a moment he hesitated and glanced down at Bulma.

Should he chain her down? He didn't want to scare her too much. He needed her to remember him, not to fear him. With reluctance he put the manacles back into the desk drawer and sat down on the side of the desk. Bulma whimpered and jerked in her entranced sleep.

"Wake up." Goku whispered hoarsely, allowing a little of his dark magic to flow along her skin like boiling oil to wake her up.

Bulma moaned, her back arching as the black magic Goku had used seeped into her skin and forced her back to reality. "What? Where am I? Who are you?" She murmured and sat up weakly, placing a hand to her head in confusion.

"You're in my office." Goku lounged indolently against the desk and looked around the room, following her gaze as it swept across the swords, axes and other weapons of war that were hung from the walls. 

"Oh God! What do you want from me?" Bulma moaned, swallowing convulsively as her breathing became uneven, tremors of fear racking her body.

"You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you in any way." Goku reassured her and flashed his disarming smile.

"Not going to kill me? _Not going to kill me?_" Bulma's voice rose hysterically. "Who _are you?"_

"Well it's complicated as I have several names." Goku gave her a fun loving smile in the hope that she might remember him from the old days, but her gaze remained blank and with a shrug he continued to talk listlessly, as though he'd told her this many times before. "I believe the name your probably the best acquainted with is Satan."

"Satan?" Bulma gasped and scuttled off the desk, falling to the floor in her hurry to get away. "You're the _Devil?" _ Bulma gasped again, opening and closing her mouth soundlessly. "This is a dream, this _has_ be a dream." Bulma closed her eyes and counted to three then opened her eyes and looked up at him, moaned in horror when he didn't disappear. "This _can't be real!"_

"Oh, I'm afraid it is." Goku walked closer and picked her up off the floor, his hands lingering on her body as he sat her back on the desk. "Like I said, don't worry. I'm not going to kill you I don't want your soul." His eye narrowed and he continued in a dark drawl. "You have something else I need."

"Listen, Satan…" Bulma began to speak again, trying to sound reasonable despite the fear that was sparking in her brain.

"Goku, call me Goku." Goku interrupted flatly. "Satan is such a commercialised name these days; I'm almost embarrassed to call myself it. Goku is much better…much more…wholesome." He lowered himself down until his mouth was near her ear. "Besides, you called me Goku once. It is only fitting that you should call me Goku again."

"What?" Bulma spluttered. "I've never seen you in my life!"

"Not in _this_ life." Goku agreed amicably. "But surely you've seen me in your dreams? I've come to you most nights."__

"The dreams…" Bulma raised a hand to her mouth as she paled, the world swam before her eyes and she wavered dangerously. "Oh sweet lord…"

"It's no use praying to _him. He _doesn't care about any of us anymore." Goku's eyes flashed dangerously, then his mood abruptly changed and he smiled indulgently. "I suppose you want to know what I want with you."

"Not really." Bulma scampered off the desk and began to back away, her voice high with panic. "I just want to leave, okay? Please let me leave!"

"I'm afraid I can't, you see I've been looking for you for a very, _very _long time and now that I have you where I want you I'm not letting you go anywhere." Goku made a motion with his hand and the red snake from his arm seemed to come alive and slither off his skin, dropping to the floor with a soft thud. It moved directly into her path and barred the door, flashing fangs at her.

Bulma screamed as Goku's hands came down on her shoulders and he pulled her body against his. "Sit down Bulma; we have a lot to discuss…"

**~*~*~*~**

"Where the hell is Bulma?" Vegeta glanced at his watch irritably. "I have to work tomorrow; I can't wait for her all night." He looked around the nightclub which was beginning to thin out.

"Don't ask me. The last time I saw her she was with you." Yamcha yawned and pulled a giggling and very drunk Marron closer. "Look man, lets just go, she's a big girl, she can take care of herself. She probably just found herself a cute guy and she's off smacking the pony."

"That is _so_ gross." Marron giggled again and hiccuped.

"Yeah, but it's probably true." Yamcha smiled fondly down at his blue haired girlfriend and ruffled her hair while she shrieked in delight at his playful mood.

"I guess your right." Vegeta took a last look around before heading out to the parking lot. "I hope she's alright though, I couldn't bare it if..." Vegeta trailed off then slowly walked back to the car.

**~*~*~*~**

"I've been searching you for a very long time." Goku sat down cross-legged on the floor and lent his back against the wall, uncaring of what nasty things might be on the floor to stain his lovely black suit with.

"How _long_ is a long time?" Bulma narrowed her eyes and edged away, not liking where this conversation was going.

Goku grinned and laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I knew you were the one from the moment I saw you."

"When did you…?"

"When did I find you?" He tilted his head to the side and watched her carefully. "Almost a year ago."

"A year." Bulma nodded. "That makes sense; those dreams have only gotten worse in the last year."

"I would have come to you straight away but _he was always with you. Guarding you." Goku's eyes flashed and he threw back his head and laughed suddenly. "But he's gotten slack in his old age."_

"Who has?" Bulma swallowed uneasily. Someone had been guarding her?

 "It doesn't matter. He failed." Goku seemed pleased by this and his voice reflected his delight. "The point is that you're the person I've been looking for, and now I've found you." He stood up in a smooth, graceful and inhuman movement. "Aren't you even curious about what it means? What you being the chosen one means?"

Bulma looked uncomfortable. "A little, but honestly Goku…I don't know if I want to hear it. Do you have any idea what a shock this is? For the first time in ages I meet a cute guy at a dance club who seems interested in _me_ and he turns out to be the Devil." Bulma's voice was woeful but she tossed her hair in familiar defiant movement that made Goku's heart twist. "That does wonderful things for a girls self esteem." She rolled her eyes, the exasperated tone staying put.

"Do you want to know or not?" Goku asked again, staring down fondly at Bulma.

"I don't really care why you lured me here Goku, I just want to go home and sleep." Bulma jumped off the desk and began to walk towards the door. Bulma gasped in amazement and terror as her body stopped moving against her will, she could feel Goku's power flaring over her as he forced her to turn around and sit back down.

"You're not going anywhere until you've heard this." His voice was a low growl that sent shivers along her spine. Next to him the red snake opened its hypnotising black eyes and hissed warningly at her again before slipping back up his arm in a blur of colour that left her feeling dizzy.

"Or what? You'll steal my soul? Set your snake on me?" Bulma stayed seated despite her words, but made a great show of pouting and looking annoyed.

Goku sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "Please Bulma, just listen."

"Fine. I'm listening." Bulma spoke stiffly.

"A long time ago, when only the Lord and his angels were in insistence a war took place when several renegade angels turned against God."

"You're talking about the war in heaven?" Bulma unbent enough to actually show a flare of interest in her blue eyes.

Goku nodded. "That's right. Now, you may find this hard to believe but you were once an angel."

"Me?" Bulma squeaked. "An angel?"

"Yes." Goku sighed again and looked tired as Bulma's face hardened again. "You and I were in love, which was forbidden amongst the angels. We were supposed to be holy beings which were above such emotions as lust and jealousy. But we were an exception." Goku smiled at her fondly. "We were so close we were almost one being and for the most part the Lord was content as long as we didn't throw ourselves into a world of sin, and," Goku continued. "For the most part, we didn't. Life was good for us in heaven, we were in God's grace and there was nothing which could change that. That is until he created _them_." Goku's voice soured suddenly. 

"Who?" Bulma lent forward, his voice curious.

"Humans." Goku stated flatly.

"Humans?" Bulma repeated dumbly, blinking as though he uttered something foreign.

"Yes, a filthy dirty sinful race who, for some reason, the Lord chose to give Earth too. For some reason he looked past all of their faults and saw only their good side and somehow they moved up to take our place alongside the lord. Many angels were unhappy but none so much as me. I have always hated humanity; they were the ultimate insult to our people." Goku looked as though he was about to spit in disgust and Bulma decided to stay silent as he spoke. She watched as his eyes hardened with remembered pain. "So I turned against the Lord. I raised an army and together we marched against heaven in an attempted to take out place by his side again. Of course we failed." Goku's' mouth twisted wryly and a small smug smile wriggled its way onto his lips. "And I was cast out of heaven along with all the other angels who had marched with me. We were cast into hell." Goku grinned nastily at his, he even sounded proud.

"Was I?" Bulma's voice was a tiny squeak.

"Oh no, the Lord decided that sending you to hell with me would be far too lenient, so he kept you in heaven. He kept you and me apart." Goku's eyes clouded and his tone softened. "How could I not do what I did?"

"What did you do?"

"I cursed the Lord with a _real curse. You see, when he threw me out I gained several new powers. I could take the souls of sinful men and women and I could also curse those I wished. I told the lord that one day I would get you back and that our child would bring about the end of his rein." Goku laughed as though it was the funniest thing he'd ever done. "I prophesized the apocalypse, and the amazing part was that the Lord got scared. He got so scared in fact that he decided to hide you from me and he sent you away."_

Bulma swallowed as what he was saying dawned on her. "He sent me to Earth."

"Yes, he sent you t Earth. He gave you a mortal body and forced you to live life after life in this sinful, filthy planet. Surrounded by sinful, filthy humans." This time Goku spat in disgust. "He even sent you a protector to guard you, to watch over you and make sure I never got close to you. I've found you in other lives, you know. But each time _he's there to stop me. But not this time, oh no, not this time." He looked up at her, his eyes burning. "This time you're going to join with me."_

"And if I say no?" Bulma raised her head in defiance.

"Trust me Bulma; you don't want to say no." Goku met her eyes with his and as she watched they flooded with red and the pupils seemed to burst into flames. "You don't want to get me angry."

**~*~*~*~**

**A/N – Okay, so what do you think? A good chapter? I certainly think so! Please Review!**


	3. The Passion

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter Three ~*~**

****

Bulma stared at Goku with unconcealed horror. "You're not giving me a choice in this are you? Wether or not I like it you're still going to use me to destroy Earth." Her voice was shaking again and instantly Goku allowed himself to relax so he wouldn't scare her.

Slowly Goku's eyes lost their hellish red colour, the pupils went back to normal and he sat there smiling at her charmingly. "When the time comes and you remember everything again, you'll be just as eager to destroy this world as I am."

Bulma didn't know wether to run in terror or slap him for the way he was acting. It wasn't fair, the devil was supposed to be red with horns and a tail, not charming and friendly with only the occasional threat.

"So what do you want me to do?" Bulma asked wearily when the silence got so thick she imagined she could actually _hear Goku grinning._

He stood up and sauntered over to her, his smile never faltering. "I want you to join with me, it'll be fun. I have the power to give you anything you want. I can make sure you stay young, beautiful, smart and talented forever. You'd be immortal and a virtual god compared to the rest of humanity. All I ask is that you join me and take your place by my side." He ran a finger down her arm, leaving her skin feeling all tingly. "Together we could rule the planet." He lent down and whispered the last part in her ear, his breath feathery light against her skin.

"Rule the planet?" Bulma stared at his finger as it traced a path up and down her arm. "You're no better then any other man!"

Goku growled dangerous and stopped stroking her arm. "Watch what you say, I am more then any mere human male!" His eyes began to flash red again and his voice took on an echoing quality.

"But it's true! Just look at all the dictators that have attempted to rule the world by force!" Bulma ignored the angry look in his eyes as she continued to speak, her voice loud and strong. "They all failed! What makes you think you'd succeed?"

Goku stared at her for a moment longer with his red eyes, then he took a deep breath and relaxed again, his eyes changing back to normal as he let go of all of his anger. "They were weak and flawed. I am not. I am strong and I _will_ succeed." Goku sat down on the desk and gazed at her with eyes that saw more then just Bulma. "I don't _want _to destroy the humans. I don't want to kill them _all_ or take _all of their souls. Hell, to be honest I don't even want them to know that I exist." Goku's voice sounded tired and he ran a hand through his hair._

"So what do you want?" Bulma asked gently, ignoring the shivery feeling she felt inside whenever Goku got close to her, and tried to strengthen her resolve _not _to give in.

"All I want to do is to be Goku for a while." Goku rained an eyebrow and his mouth twitched when Bulma's jaw dropped open. "And maybe terrorize the humans and make them pay for taking our place by the Lords side! Then of course I'd like to leave the world in a burning wreck and return to Hell." Goku looked up at Bulma with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Of course you'll come with me and be my queen in Hell, as you were always meant to be."

"Hell?" Bulma shrieked in outrage, barely resisting the urge to slap the devil. "You want me to go to Hell? I can't go to Hell!"

"Why not?" Goku looked insulted. "It's not as bad as God makes out in the bible." Goku sneered suddenly and his voice went through one of its changes again, this time sarcasm dripped off his tongue so thickly it seemed to taint the air. "Stupid damned Christians spreading all those lies about my subterranean home. It's really quite nice there! I mean, it _is one giant graveyard and it __is freezing most of the time, but at least its not burning!" Goku scoffed and his voice switched back to an intelligent sounding drawl. "You'd think if God was going to tell a lie he'd at least think of something better then babble about 'The Fires of Hell'." Goku looked thoughtful. "I wonder how much he bribed Dante to write that book full of rubbish about him going to Hell."_

"Dante? What on Earth are you talking about?" Bulma looked for an exit out of this room and tried to work out how much time it would take for her to get out of Goku's general vicinity. The sooner she could get away from this guy the better! It was painfully obvious that this man was a raving lunatic who only thought he was the devil…

"I don't _think_ I'm the devil. I _know_ I'm the devil. How else do you think I'm reading your mind?" Goku looked at her from the corner of his eye, sounding amused. He turned to face her and grinned more broadly when Bulma gasped.

"Oh God! You can read my mind?" Bulma blushed against her will as she hoped he hadn't read all of her thoughts about how good looking he was, though judging from his self satisfied grin he obviously had been. It wasn't fair! It really wasn't!

"What do you say? Immortality, eternal beauty and brains…" Goku trailed off and looked expectantly at her, his voice pleading without begging her.

"No way! You'll just take my soul." Bulma pursed her lips and wondered why she was having this crazy conversation. "I've heard the talk about _you_! Satan is well known for making false promises to young woman and then stealing their souls, and I don't intend to be taken in!" She crossed her arms over her chest and once again strengthened her resolve not to give in.

"Well maybe sometimes Itell a few lies to get what I want, but I don't trick them out of their souls. They always know the price and I _do_ give them what they want." Goku grinned and continued to speak in a sensual voice Bulma guessed he always used when trying to charm a pretty young woman like herself. "Or what they _think_ they want. There was this one girl who wished she could shape shift, only I made it so she couldn't change back into a…" Goku caught Bulma's disgusted look and halted, pretending to cough as his look turned serious. "Please trust me Bulma, I don't want you soul, I just want _you_."

"Me? Great." Bulma squirmed as he moved closer to her again. Her body seemed to have a life of its own whenever Goku was around; it was getting harder to ignore him the longer he stayed close to her. Goku seemed to sense this and he crept closer to her until their bodies were touching, his hand moving to the small of her back to trace slow circles.

"I can make your fantasies come true. You're like me, Bulma, and you know it. We're two of a kind. I can give you what you want…" Goku paused dramatically, his hand running up her spine. Bulma moaned and shivered as he gently stroked the sensivitive skin on the back of her neck. "You want what I can give you, don't you? I can smell your arousal; I can taste it in the air. You want me." He turned her to face him and kissed the throbbing pulse in her neck.

"You're lying!" Bulma gasped as he gently bit her neck.

"Well then, I'll just prove it to you my sweet little angel." Goku growled seductively and tipped Bulma's head back, allowing his mouth to gently brush hers. His arms crushed her to his chest as he dragged her onto his lap, his hands slipping up her shit to cup her warm, soft breasts as he kissed her again, this time harder and with a more urgent passion.

"This isn't fair! I want you to stop this!" Bulma mumbled unconvincingly against his lips as her own arms wrapped around his body, locking them into an embrace which neither of had felt for a lifetime but which they had yearned for all their lives.

"Sure it's fair. Its temptation and it's a speciality of mine." Goku moaned as he kissed her again, slipping his tongue into her mouth and tasting her as though she was the most delicious thing he'd ever come across. He held her so tight it was as if he was trying to push himself through her body, so tight it should have hurt, but Bulma wasn't in any pain at all.

Goku bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and both of them let out a groan of pleasure. It was then that Bulma knew that this was what she'd been missing. This was why no other man had been able to satisfy her in bed. 

She needed pain! She loved pain just as much as Goku seemed to.

The feeling of missing something which had always sat inside of her evaporated as this unfamiliar desire flooded through her body and seeped into her very bones.

Bulma pulled off his black jacket and pulled his shirt out of the waist band of his pants. She shifted position so she was straddling his lap and then with a small feisty growl she ripped his shirt open and tugged it off him, exposing his well muscled chest. Bulma bent down and began to lick a nipple, growling again when she heard Goku moan in surprise and pleasure. She bit down and drew blood, then pushed Goku down so he was lying on the desk.

Everything that she was doing was familiar - so familiar that without a shadow of doubt she knew that Goku had been telling the truth. 

Goku's hands slipped down to gently clasp her waist as she continued to lustily kiss his lips. His eyes when Bulma glanced at them were blood red again, the pupils whirling with fire, but this time his eyes seemed beautiful, not scary.

Bulma felt herself fall into those eyes, and this time she didn't eve try to stop herself from being consumed by the light in his eyes. It felt right to have him possessing her this intimately. Bulma allowed herself to drift into a world of pleasure as Goku made love to her, content to be loved by him.

Afterwards, Goku rolled off Bulma and grinned as he felt the bite and scratch mars that covered his body. He'd been right! He could give Bulma _just_ what she wanted and how she wanted it. He caught sight of himself in the mirror and moved a hand up to touch the black horns that stuck out of the bright red skin on his forehead, he just hoped she would stay asleep long enough for him to gather enough power to shift back into his human form. 

It would probably scare the life out of her to see him in his demonic form so soon.

**~*~**

**A/N – I know, I know this sucks without a lemon! But, email me and I will send you out a lemon version of this chapter! Please Review!**


	4. The Nightmare

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

A/N – This chapter, except for the very start, is a completely new chapter. Although it was supposed to be written for the old version of this fic, I never really found that it worked. However, now that I'm a better writer then I used to be (what a lie!) I've finally figured out how write it. Enjoy this chapter because it's going to be twisted and trippy and 100% me!

**~*~ Chapter Four ~*~**

****

"You can't leave." Goku told Bulma as he sat perched on the desk wearing his only pants. He was shirtless, dishevelled looking and was smiling at her with that infinite charm of his. Bulma suspected that he was remaining shirtless merely in a ploy to distract her so she wouldn't leave. 

"I _can_ leave and I _will_ leave. I don't know what just happened. I don't know why I did that, but I shouldn't have…it shouldn't have happened full stop." Bulma's voice was shaking and she cursed herself as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. 

Goku scoffed. "Come on! I'm the Dark Prince! Temptation is my speciality! If I didn't know I could seduce you I wouldn't have tried, so don't be so hard on yourself." He looked at her in a seductive way and Bulma shivered as she remembered how he'd touched her.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She whirled around and glared at him, avoiding making eye contact with him as she hysterically babbled on. "Are you saying that you _knew_ I'd be a pushover because you _knew you could make me want you?" Bulma glared harder and Goku began to fidget uneasily, not having expected this outraged reaction from her._

"No! It was nothing like that! But I don't like being rejected any more then the next man. All I'm saying is that I wouldn't have put myself in a place where you would have said no to me." Goku tried desperately to keep a happy-go-lucky note in his voice as he tried his little boy smile on her again, the look on Bulma's face quickly freezing it away.

Bulma pursed her full red lips and looked at him through narrowed lids. "Look _Mr._ Devil, I don't have time to be playing games with you…"

"What games?" Goku cut Bulma off, smiling innocently and flashing perfect white teeth. "Who's playing games?" He allowed his voice to drop into a dark drawl. "I know I'm not."

"You know what I mean!" Bulma squeaked in a high voice, colour assaulting her cheeks. "Why do you _really _want me here?" Bulma pleaded, her mouth twisted up into a grimace. "I know there must be more to wanting me here then to merely sleep with me. There must be some kind of reason other then the one you told me. I mean, you do seem like a nice guy and all, but you are _still _the devil." She outstretched her hand in a pleading manner, her blue eyes innocently questioning.

The smile disappeared and Goku looked almost threatening. He looked at her outstretched hands and slowly let his gaze travel up her; finally he answered her in a deep growling voice that betrayed how hungry for her he was. "True. I do have an ulterior motive for sleeping with you."

"And that is…?" Bulma whispered nervously, taking a step back as she wished he'd look happy again and not so evil and threatening. It was disconcerting to have him switching his facial expression so easily, as if his face was a changeable mask.

"Let me explain it to you this way. You've been having nightmare's lately about a snake coming after you, haven't you?" Goku asked nonchalantly as he picked up his black shirt and pulled it on, leaving it hanging open so that a gap of well toned chest showed as he talked. When Bulma nodded, her gaze locked on that gap of chest and Goku smirked and continued talking in that mesmerising voice. "Well, the snake represents me. The dream is kind of a heavenly warning that I was coming after you."

"What's so important about me?" Bulma tore her gaze away from his chest and titled her head to the side cautiously stretching the muscles out. "Why am I so special?" Her tone was both cautious and questioning and Goku deliberated for a second on how to answer her.

"You're the chosen one." He told her quietly and slowly as though unsure how to say what he needed to. Bulma looked confused and Goku held up a hand to forestall her. "Bear with me. You have angel blood inside of you and I have demon blood. If we were to mix our blood, and by that I mean create a child, our child would have power from both the dark and the light realms and I could get back into heaven and claim it as my own." Goku's eyes were shining with that demonic light again as he spoke and his voice had an inhuman echoing quality to it.

Bulma's mouth dropped open. "You want to get me pregnant! So I can give birth to the Anti Christ? No way! No _bloody way!" Bulma screeched in disbelief and shook her head. She spun around and began walking towards the door. "I am not going to be responsible for the fall of heaven!" She opened the door and stalked out. A second later the door flew open again and she shouted her final remarks; "Stay away form me Goku! I can tell you now that I am __not going to have your flaming demon spawn child!" With that she slammed the door and silence descended upon Goku who still sat carelessly on the desk.]_

Goku sat staring at the door for a few moments before he blinked as though just returning to reality and began to slowly button his shirt. "Oh Bulma, maybe I should have told you that it's too late. You're already pregnant to me, and I'm never going to let you destroy our child." Goku's voice deepened and he rolled up a shirt sleeve. The red snake tattooed on his arm shuddered, glowed and slithered off his arm, dropping to the floor and slithering towards the shadows with serpentine grace.

"Never." Goku's eyes glowed as he growled the final word into the gloom of his office.

**~*~**

Bulma's high heels made sharp loud clicking noises as she walked across the dance floor. At any moment she expected the office door to fly open and Goku to come charging out. But the door remained firmly shut and the only noise Bulma could hear was the gentle sound of rain falling on the roof of the club.

She was in the middle of the dance floor when she saw something out of the corner of her eyes. Bulma turned her head but couldn't see anything in the shadowy corner of the room. Another movement from the other corner of her eyes caused her to gasp and whirl around again, but, once again, there was nothing to see. Hesitantly, Bulma took a few more steps across the nightclub floor, and then she saw it.

            The shadows seemed to be moving. They seemed to be almost writhing and turning as though they were alive. Bulma screamed and stumbled fearfully away from the dark corners of the club as the shadows in the room seemed to spew forth hundreds of snakes. They moved like water across the floor, with a fluid grace that Bulma found horrifying. They swept over her shoes, several snakes attempting to curl themselves around Bulma's ankles and legs.

She let out a shriek as she fell to the floor, a blanket of glowing black snakes settling suffocatingly over her. She felt them moving all around her, as though she were trapped in some huge, pulsing mountain of snake. Bulma opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out, instead she felt a snake try to worm its way into her throat and she hastily shut her mouth, whimpering like a small fretful child as she heard several snakes hiss around her.

And then they were gone.

Bulma cautiously opened her eyes and almost fainted, the room spinning dizzyingly around her as she realised she wasn't _in_ the night club anymore. Instead she was in what appeared to be a ballroom. Red drapes twisted their way from the centre of the ceiling to the walls where they were tied back with tassels. The walls were velvet black and the floor was one giant mirror. 

Bulma cautiously got to her feet. Around her spun couples dancing to music which Bulma couldn't hear. There was no sound, she realised, no sound at all. Everything seemed so unreal, and yet as a couple swept past her, the ladies ball gown brushed against her and Bulma felt the cool brush of silk. 

She took a faltering step and suddenly sound returned to her in a rush. So unexpected was the return of sound that Bulma cringed and almost fell to the floor, her hands covering her ears.

Sound bombarded her from every direction; the buzz of talking couples, the music from a string quartet playing music which sounded incredibly old and sweet but which Bulma had never heard before. She relaxed again as her body adjusted to the return of sound and Bulma straightened up again. Feeling out of place in her modern clubbing clothes, she hastily backed to the side of the ball room and watched the couples spin past her in a myriad of colour.

"Would you care to dance?" A dark shadow fell over Bulma and she looked up to find Goku staring down at her; dressed in some sort of neo-gothic costume. Bulma knew she should be frightened of him, but as she gazed up into his eyes everything seemed to fall away again and she suddenly wanted nothing more to be dancing in his arms.

Goku smiled and the next thing Bulma knew they _were_ dancing in his arms in the middle of the room. They moved easily with each other, dancing to that eerily sweet music which continued to ebb from the band in the corner. Goku drew Bulma closer until she could rest her head on his shoulders and then he loosely wrapped his arms around her waist and let out a sigh of contentment.

She stared down into the mirrored floor, watching as the creatures reflected danced together in a horrible swirling mass. Bulma suddenly froze in Goku's arms as she looked up at the very humans looking couples and then down into the mirror which reflected only hideous dancing demon creatures.

She pulled away from Goku with a gasp, tearing herself from his possessive hold. All around her couples continued to dance, faster and faster they spun around until all Bulma could see was a mass of colour and light, in the middle of which two black ebony eyes watched her.

_I see you._

Bulma took a step backwards and screamed as she fell to the floor. Her head slammed into the mirror and spider webbed cracks spread from around it. Blackness washed up over Bulma and the vision of the coloured ballroom shattered around her. When the darkness subsided she was back in the club, lying on her back on the dance floor. The ball room and the demons were gone.

Bulma sat up, covering her mouth with a hand as a scream tried to work its way out of her mouth. Around her the floor gleamed wetly and Bulma let out a low moan as it vibrated and ripples spread out across it. Something moved under the floor, something black and shadowy. Bulma scrambled away from the creature and froze as the floor vibrated and rippled again.

Something broke through the surface of the floor, like breaking through the surface of water and Bulma realised it was a hand. She tried to scream but her breath was frozen in her throat as the hand moved across the floor and grabbed her ankle. It held on with bony, decaying fingers and Bulma shrieked and tried to kick it off. Another hand and another broke free of the floor to latch onto her, holding her down to the floor, trying to drag her down into the floor…

"No!" Bulma jerked an arm free and pried several of the hands of her, chunks of flesh tearing off the hands when she tore ferociously at them. She got to her feet and ran for the door, behind her the dance floor seemed to moan in pain as he high heels pushed through the wood as though being sucked down. Bulma unbuckled them and kept running, the floor wet and sticky under her feet.

A hand dead hand grabbed her foot just as she made it to the door and she threw all her weight into tearing free of it, opening the door and plunging into the cool night air outside.

Behind her the door to the club slammed shut by itself and shrill demonic laughter echoed dully from inside. A hand came down on her shoulder and Bulma screamed as she whirled around, prepared to face another of the dead creature from under the dance floor. Instead she found herself staring into those endless black eyes again.

"I called you a cab." Goku lounged easily against the club wall and dealt her a small smile as though he hadn't just tried to trap her in a nightmarish world. "I don't want you being picked up by some strange man as you walk home." His eyes were glowing darkly and Bulma had to resist the urge to slap him as they travelled down her body possessively.

The taxi drew up alongside her and Bulma opened the door, not surprised when Goku grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back against him, his hand resting on her waist. "I'm letting you go for now Bulma, but don't forget that at any second I can twist the world around you and take you back with me." He kissed her neck and drew in her scent with a deep breath.

"Back where?" Bulma's voice shook as she pulled away and moved closer to the gaping cab, clinging on to the door as though she expected it to slam shut and the cab to drive away and leave her with Goku at any second.

"Back to hell." Goku chuckled as Bulma paled and ducked into the cab, slamming the door shut behind her. "Sweet dreams." He smiled and waved at her through the cab window, still smiling long after the cab had disappeared form view.

**~*~**

A/N – This chapter was inspired by a dream I had. Quite frankly I think this is one of the best chapters I've ever written, let me know what you think! Please review! Please! I want feedback for this chapter more then anything!


	5. The Despair

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter Five ~*~**

****

****

Bulma tried not to disturb Marron as she tiptoed inside, smiling as she caught site of her blue haired friend on the couch with Yamcha. Two empty vodka bottles and two shot glasses on the table. Those two were so cute together, they're relationship was so easy and free, neither of them ever seemed to have any hang-ups.

Bulma crept up the stairs and tried not to think about Goku, she quietly went into her bedroom where she locked the door and lent back against it. Slowly sinking to the carpet as everything that had happened to her rushed back into the front of her mind.

  
_Oh God. I slept with the Devil! How could I have been so stupid!_ Bulma rubbed her temples as she staggered back to her feet and made her way unsteadily into the bathroom. She flicked on the light, wincing as the light made her eyes burn and itch. Bulma turned on the shower and slowly undressed herself, wincing every time she saw another bruise or bite mark unveiled on her body. She tossed her clothes into the laundry basket and then slipped under the hot water with a thankful sigh.

How could she be an angel who was hidden on Earth? It was preposterous! She'd never behaved in the least bit angelic in her life! As a child she'd always been in constant trouble, and as a teenager her parents had despaired of her.

Bulma rubbed herself with a soapy cloth, scrubbing hard as she tried to rid herself of his scent. She shivered against her will; she could still remember the way his hands had moved over her body, how they had caressed her as though she were the most precious thing in the world to him. Which, Bulma supposed, to him she was.

  
She lent back against the tiled wall of the shower and let herself relax with a sigh. He had been a terrific lover - very rough, but then that was how Bulma liked it. She could almost feel his hands moving over her, touching her in those intimate spots…

  
Wait a minute! She could feel hands moving on her!

  
Bulma's eyes flew open and she started to scream as she saw Goku in front of her. He clamped a hand over her mouth and pulled her closer to him, a grim little smile on his face. 

  
"Sssh! You don't want to wake up your little friends, do you?" He grinned and licked some water off the side of her face. He relaxed his grip on her body and took his hand off her mouth. "It would be a little hard to explain who I am you know." He trailed a hand down her body and Bulma fought the urge to scream.

  
"What on earth are you doing here? How did you get in?" Bulma spoke in a whisper, hardly believing her eyes. "I nearly died when you I realised someone was in here with me." Against her will Bulma gazed at his body. He chest was muscled and perfect and droplets of water had landed on their. Bulma had the oddest urge to lean down and lick the water off him, but she resisted.

  
Goku looked annoyed at her questions. "I'm the devil! How do you think I got in here? I transported myself! It isn't hard! Any devil worthy of the name can transport themself to a desired destination." He shook his head and a shower of droplets landed on Bulma. He grinned wickedly and lent down to kiss her. "You didn't really think I'd just let you walk away from em did you? I need you Bulma, I'd kill for you." His voice had roughened again and he looped gentle arms around her.

  
"Oh God! This is like some kind of horrible dream where no matter where you run or hide the monster knows where you are." Bulma pulled out of his arms and sagged against the tiled wall, the fight leaving her body as she finally realised just how obsessed Goku was.

  
"I know." Gou nodded sympathetically. "But there's nothing you can do to get rid of me, I'm never leaving you again." He moved closer and pulled her against him, nibbling on her ear seductively. "Besides, you know you want me." His voice was gently persuasive and it was only with an effort that Bulma managed to open her eyes again, terrified that if she shut them she might wake up in hell.

  
_He's evil, don't listen to him…don't even look at him…_ Bulma opened her eyes again, following her inner voices warning and looked at Goku, meeting his shadowed gaze. 

"Why won't you leave me alone?" She tried to push him away half heartedly. 

  
"Because I love you and I need you…" Goku trailed off and knelt down and put his ear to her stomach as if listening to something. "…and I don't want you harming my son." He looked up and grinned ferociously at her, his eyes flashing with victory as he detected the life source burning inside of her.

  
"No!" Bulma pulled away, her eyes wide and wild. "I'm not pregnant! You're lying." She backed into the corner of the shower cubicle, her breathing ragged from fear. "I can't be!" She wrapped arms around herself and tried to still her shaking.

  
"It's okay to be scared." Goku gently pulled her back into his arms. "I know how hard it can be to accept these things." His chest was firm and solid and Bulma gave into the urge to collapse against him.

  
"No, oh please God no!" Bulma began to sob quietly on Goku's shoulder, holding on to him as if he were the last precious thing in her world. It was disturbing how much she craved him…and she'd only just met him.

This need for him was like a sickness.

  
"Its okay, I'm here for you." Goku smiled to himself, everything was going as he had hoped. Still, he reflected, he hoped she cheered up. He _did love her and did care for her - he didn't want her getting depressed and harming herself of the baby. He'd waited too long to be back in her arms again, to be loved by her again. He needed her so badly._

  
He tilted her face up and kissed her, mildly surprised when she kissed him back almost urgently. It still surprised Goku how humans reacted when they were in shock. They always seemed to turn needier and more fickle.

  
A wicked gleam descended into Goku's eyes and he mentally shrugged. If she was so needy for comfort, there wasn't any reason not to give it to her. Goku pushed Bulma up against the shower wall and ground his body into hers, getting a moan of pleasure for his troubles. He lifted her off the floor and Bulma wrapped her legs around his waist, taking his already swollen member inside of her and moaning softly, her head thrown back in abandon.

  
He pressed her up against the shower wall for support and began to drive himself into her again and again. Bulma was wildly responsive in his arm, driving him on with small cries. Goku sunk his teeth into her neck and began to lap up her blood as he made love to her; _nothing_ was better then sex and blood. 

God, how he'd missed her…

  
"Jesus!" Bulma sobbed, she didn't know what Goku was doing to her neck but it felt good! So good! She tightened her legs around his waist as she felt herself come, holding onto Goku as if she were on some kind of dangerous roller coaster.

  
Goku slammed her into the wall once more as he came, then he slowly he sank to the floor, his legs unable to support him any longer. He made sure Bulma was comfortable in his arms then tried to catch his breath and stabilise his power level. 

  
"Oh…God…what's wrong…with me? You're…evil." Bulma asked in a distraught voice in between gasps of breath. Her head was resting again the tiled wall and her eyes were closed.

  
Goku shrugged and answered her in bursts of speech between his own pants. "I…guess I just…have that effect…on you…Bulma." He lent his head on her shoulder kissed her.  Taking a deep breath he managed to force himself to speak again. "Sorry if I hurt you, I was little rough."

  
Goku felt his power shudder and realised with a shock that he was about to change into his demonic form. He tried once more to bring himself under control but he'd used up more energy then he'd though transporting himself over here straight after scaring her in the club. He was powerful here on Earth but his power was not limitless on this plane as it was in the underworld.

  
"Christ Bulma! Whatever you do don't look at me!" Goku gritted his teeth as he felt horns come though the top of his head. He prayed that Bulma wouldn't see him and freak out, but he could already feel her lifting her head to see what was wrong…

**~*~**

Bulma sat on the edge of her bed and stared ahead with glassy, dull eyes. The world around her seemed to be in black and white with the sound dulled. Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears, but everything else was silent. It was as if nothing outside of her room existed. _Everything was silent. She couldn't even hear the usual buzz of traffic from the highway near her house._

Her azure blue eyes were unfocused as she stared at the wall. Sitting so stiffly and so motionless that one could have been forgiven for thinking her a statue.

But although Bulma was miles away, she was very much alive.

"You can't hide forever Bulma. Sooner or later reality will demand a reign check." Goku stood staring out the window and although he had spoken he did not turn around, he simply stared out at nothing, his red eyes unfocused, as he wished with all his being to be an angel again. He knew that Bulma would snap out of her trance sooner or later, it was just a matter of time before she faced the truth.

"You should have told me what you were underneath. You shouldn't have hidden what you were from me." Bulma's voice was halting, quiet and seemed to lack an essence of reality; it was as if her voice was felt rather then heard, as if she was shouting to him from a distance.

Goku turned slightly and looked at the woman who sat on the bed facing the opposite wall, his black eyes regretful.

_If only she hadn't seen what I am…_

**_******_**

****

_Goku had felt the change rush over him in the shower, it had come pouring across his skin like fire and, like fire, it had burnt away all outward traces of his humanity.  He didn't changed fully, he never did, but he changed enough to be recognisable for what he was; a demon._

_And of course Bulma had looked at him, warning her not to look had been a stupid thing to do. Like telling people not to look down when they're rock climbing.  She hadn't looked horrified; fearful perhaps, curious maybe but mostly shocked and hurt._

_They had stared at each other for what seemed like hours but what must have been minutes. Goku had been prepared for shock and fear but not for the hurt that had shone from her eyes like a beacon. He couldn't see why she should have looked hurt, it was her he had been trying to protect by hiding his inner ugliness._

_But Bulma hadn't seen it like that._

_She had only seen a lie. _

_A lie that had red skin and eyes, black horns and a snake like tail. _

_Bulma had reached up a shaky hand to his face and had traced his red skin with gentle but disbelieving hands. Amazingly, despite the shock and hurt, Bulma had felt the need to laugh. A hysterical laugh had bubbled out of her throat before she coked it off. She knew it was shock, real shock setting it but she couldn't help but on wonder where his pitch fork was; the devil always had a pitchfork didn't he?_

_With her mind swallowed up in shock Bulma had untangled herself from him and had dressed and gone to sit on her bed, her wet hair dripping down her back and dampening her clothes. But she didn't care; she didn't care about anything any more…_

**_******_**

She had been there for hours now, staring at the wall with those empty eyes that scared Goku more then the wrath of Goku had all those years ago when he had been cast out of heaven.

For Bulma the world had lost its lustre; it had lost the basic element that had always kept her going – hope.

It wasn't just that Goku was really a red skinned Devil, it was many things. Things that, as she watched the shadows creep across her wall, flashed through her mind to torment her.

Life was cruel. It had never been fair before, but it had never seemed this ugly either. She could have lived with Goku in his true form had she not been pregnant with the antichrist, or alternatively she could have lived with being pregnant with the antichrist had she not seen Goku in his real form, but together they seemed too much. 

Reality seemed too far gone to ever come back.

It was like being trapped in her own personal nightmare and not being able to wake.

"Nightmares always end; everybody always wakes up - even those who never sleep." Goku's voice was closer to Bulma then it should have been and she shivered as she realised he had read her mind again. It was another reminder of how alien he was to her, how inhuman he truly was.

Bulma turned her head to glance at him. Goku stood next to her, his eyes, back to the endless black colour they had been when she had first saw them, watched her with worry etched deeply into them.

"No Goku, not all people wake up." Bulma was surprised she could speak, the sound of her own voice shocked her and the outside world came crashing through the barriers she had put up against it. Sound returned and the world outside Bulma's bedroom existed again. "But _I will."_

**~*~**

"You should have just shown me what you were. I probably wouldn't have freaked out as much if I'd had some warning." Goku and Bulma sat together on her bedroom floor. Goku had one arm looped about her, as though afraid she would slip back into shock again.

"You didn't freak out." Goku tried to sound normal and calming. He gave her a smile, a very happy smile and was rewarded when she didn't look away and instead returned it with a small smile of her own. He was making progress with her; she was starting to accept what he was and how she felt about him – but he still had a long way to go with her yet.

"I _did_ freak out, Goku. I almost let myself convince I was dreaming. That's freaking out in any book." Bulma watched a bird fly past the window. "_Why didn't you just show me what you were?" There was just the tiniest not of hurt and betrayal in her voice and Goku sighed, troubled by her lack of faith in him._

"Because I didn't want you to scream and rant and rave about how ugly and evil I was." Goku looked away, ashamed by his need to be accepted by Bulma, ashamed of his weakness. "I wish I could be an angel for you. I wish I could even be more human for you…"

Bulma laughed suddenly, interrupting him. "If you were a human you'd be like any other normal person and I wouldn't look twice at you." She smiled again, more relaxed in Goku's presence now. "And you're not ugly in your demonic form. Actually you're actually kind of sexy in a certain light. You _are evil but I think I can handle that. Part of me is attracted to you on a level which I can't fight."_

"Really?" Goku sat up straighter. Perhaps she had more faith in him then he had thought…

"Yeah. You said you've been watching me for a while now, well then, you must have seen that I can't commit to guys. I even dated Vegeta once - I though he'd be the one. But although he was different to other guys he wasn't what I wanted. I've been feeling so alone my whole life, like I was missing something. And I think I may have found what I wanted in you." Bulma looked sadly down at her hands. "I never understood why I didn't like guys, but I do now. I guess I was always searching for something different, something that only somebody like you could give me." Bulma looked up and met his dark eyes, her soul jerking as it recognized it's other half.

"You wanted somebody like you, that's all." Goku's voice sounded reasonable, hiding his turbulent inner feelings as he felt himself being tugged in Bulma's direction by something inside of him. "I may be your opposite but we're more alike then any two humans will be."

"That makes no sense!" Bulma looked up quizzically. "How can opposites be the same?"

"It makes perfect sense!" Goku looked insulted, but he had a teasing light in his eyes. "Positive and negative are the same, only opposite! We're like that, we're going to attract because even though we're different in every way were still a mirror image of each other." He smiled charmingly, knowing that Bulma probably hadn't understood a word he'd said. 

"I get it." Bulma shook her head and Goku grinned, knowing she was lying. "Well I don't actually, but you're getting into reality and that was never a strong point of mine."

"Understandably, we're opposite and I always loved reality." Goku crept closer and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close. "I know how to explain it to you! We're like positive and negative magnets! We're draw to each other but repelled by our own kind! That's why we're attracted to each other!" Goku pulled back and looked triumphant.

Bulma laughed at his boyish behaviour. "Okay, I get it." She stretched and stood up yawning. "I guess I should eat something, are you hungry?"

"Starving." Goku eyes feasted on Bulma and he reluctantly got to his feet, running a hand through his hair.

"What do you like eating?"

"Apart from souls?" Goku joked lamely as she led him towards the kitchen. "Anything! I eat heaps so anything will do."

"Shouldn't be a problem." Bulma's mouth quirked. "You'd be surprised how much Vegeta and Yamcha eat. They never gain a pound but they almost constantly eat, I swear it's unnatural!" Bulma walked into the kitchen and yelped; sitting at the table was Marron, Yamcha and Vegeta. 

She never heard Goku murmur: "I know."

 "Well speak of the devil." Vegeta muttered as they joined them at the table. Both Goku and Bulma froze until Vegeta continued. "We were just talking about you Bulma." Vegeta continued to eat, not having noticed their odd behaviour.

"Oh? Really?" Bulma laughed nervously. She frowned warningly at Goku who looked like he was trying not to burst out laughing. She kicked him under the table and he sobered up, looking around with a serious look as she introduced him. "This is my friend Goku."

"Hiya Goku!" Marron chirped. "Say, didn't I see you at the nightclub?" She battered her eyelashes at Goku.

"Yeah, I own it." Goku grinned back, evidently enjoying how uncomfortable Bulma was with his behaviour.

"Really?" Yamcha looked interested. "And you came home with Bulma? Wow." His tone turned sarcastic and Bulma perked up, aware she was being insulted.

"Hey!" Bulma slapped at him from across the table. "You jerk!"

Vegeta was silent; he gazed from Bulma to Goku and then back again, trying to analyse the feeling that was bubbling inside of him and screaming a warning. "You know, you look kind of familiar Goku. Have we met before?" He watched Goku intently, waiting for his reaction.

Goku looked at him tensely, schooling his features into a pleasant expression. "I don't think so." But when he'd finished speaking he bit out a smile that didn't look happy or polite at all and Vegeta looked back with the same smile on his face.

Bulma looked from Goku to Vegeta and realised something; _they look so alike…_

**~*~**

**A/N - "Nightmares always end; everybody always wakes up - even those who never sleep." I dreamt that line, pretty neat huh? I seem to get a lot of my ideas for this story from my dreams don't I?  Anyhow, please review!******


	6. The Past

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter Six ~*~**

The room was filled with the sound of people eating. Forks scraped noisily against plates and cups were banged down on the table with enthusiasm – occasionally coffee even sloshed out the side of the mugs and a light brown coffee ring would be left around the offending mug. The large wooden table they were seated around seemed to almost creak under the huge amount of food that had been placed on top of it. There were plates of bacons and eggs. Mountains of toast and fruit and a large assortment of jams and spreads – as well as several jugs of steaming coffee and sweet fruit juice.

Yamaha and Vegeta were, as usual, eating with gusto. What was surprising to Bulma was that Goku was matching them plate for plate and showing no signs of lagging. His ebony dark eyes were focused on Bulma most of the time, but they would occasionally slide across the table to glance at Vegeta who _appeared_ to be completely engrossed in his food.

Vegeta sneaked a glance across the table at Goku and frowned as he tried to remember what his old enemies face had looked like. It had been so many years since he had fought him…so many years since he had _seen_ him. Surely he wouldn't be back? Vegeta looked back down at his plate and shovelled bacon into his mouth as he thought.

I'm sure it's him…it feels like it's him. And yet it doesn't smell like him and it doesn't look like him either. Could he have taken a new form? Perhaps I'm remembering every wrong, after all the last time I saw him was several thousand years ago in the Dark Age.

"You okay, Vegeta?" Bulma looked at him, her tone concerned and her eyes worried. She daintily took a sip of fruit juice and Vegeta smiled at her fondly.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just not feeling that great. I must have indigestion." Vegeta stood up amidst the chuckles of his lame joke and ignored the concerned look that Yamcha was now fixing upon him. He pushed his chair in and stretched - trying to sneak another glance at Goku. "I might go and sit out side for a bit, you know get some fresh air." Vegeta heard the concern in his own voice and inwardly winced.

It wouldn't do to alert _him_ – if indeed it was _he_.

"Well, if you need anything just call me." Bulma brushed some of her blue hair out of her eyes and smiled at him, her tone warm as she added. "I hope you feel better."

_Poor kid._ Vegeta looked at Bulma and wondered why of all the women in all the countries of the world she had been chosen to be the mother of the Anti Christ. She was so sweet and trusting, it wasn't her fault that she had been seduced to the dark side all those years ago. Satan would, no doubt, take advantage of her and strip her of that beautiful innocence which was so rare in women.

Vegeta slipped Goku one last searching glance and turned to walk outside. He opened the door that led out to the garden and let it close silently behind him. If that was Satan then Vegeta knew he would have no choice but to kill him.

If only he could prove who he really was…

**~*~**

As soon as Goku had left the room, Goku had nudged Bulma with his elbow and with a small jerk of his head he indicated that he needed to talk to her alone. Bulma took both her plate and Goku's through to the kitchen and left them in the sink. Then she rejoined Goku who has making polite conversation with Yamcha while he waited for her in the breakfast room.

"Breakfast was great Marron, you're really turning into a great little cook!" Bulma said playfully as she ruffled her friend's blonde hair, knowing how she hated having it mussed up. 

"That's fie Bulma. I know how tired you usually are after you have gentlemen callers." Marron giggled, apparently missing the annoyed look that graced Goku's angular face momentarily.

Bulma took Goku's muscled arm and led him out of the breakfast room. The tension which was emanating from his body was amazing – he was so tense Bulma was afraid he might snap like a rubber band at any moment. Something was obviously troubling him and he was having a hard time hiding the fact from her.

Bulma and Goku made their way back to Bulma's bedroom in a silence that was deafening. The only sound was the gentle sound of their feet padding along the carpet. They reached Bulma's white bedroom door and Goku opened it and waved her in, his ebony eyes discreetly avoiding her searching gaze. As soon as Goku was in the room and they were safely locked in together Bulma whirled around and forced him to look at her.

"Okay Goku, explain something to me. Why did you and Vegeta spend the whole meal glaring at each other? And why do you two look so…similar?" Bulma looked away from his empty eyes and began to pace the room, her voice harsh with unease. "_Why?"_

"Vegeta is…" Goku stopped and cleared his throat as the ability to speak momentary slipped out of his reach and he swallowed the lump of fear in his throat. "Vegeta is my brother." He held up a hand and forestalled Bulma from speaking. "Not a brother by blood, I _meant _that he was once a fellow angel." Goku walked over to Bulma's bed and dropped down onto it, his voice tired and empty sounding. 

"Vegeta is an _angel_?" Bulma scoffed. "I find _that_ a little hard to believe!" She tossed her head and rolled her blue eyes, her voice mocking as she spoke again. "He's not exactly _angelic_ you know."

"I know! Believe me _I know_. But Vegeta isn't your usual kind of Angel. He was the leader of God's army against _us_ in the battle for Heaven, and when they won and I was sent to hell, Vegeta was sent down to Earth to watch for me in case I ever escaped Hell and started to work my own little brand of _Dark Magic_ on the humans. We've met several times since then, the last time we fought was dark in medieval times, Vegeta managed to kill the body I was in." Goku sounded embarrassed by this and he cleared his throat noisily again. "Back then I wasn't able to bring my own body out of hell, I could only possess people and it made tracking you down difficult."

"Wow, that's intense." Bulma muttered softly and sank down on the bed next to Goku in shock. She began to pick at her pink bedspread and she cast him a sidelong glance. "Do you think Vegeta knows who you are?" She placed a hand on Goku's shoulder and a shiver of wanton awareness coursed through her body as she remembered what his body had felt like against hers.

Goku vented a rough laugh and Bulma blushed as she realised he'd read her thoughts. "You're distracting me from my story you know."

Bulma swallowed and tried to stop her thoughts from running down that train of thought again. "Sorry." She took her hand off his shoulder and folded them in her lap. Goku looked at her with amusement dancing in his eyes and returned to his story, avoiding her question about wether or not Vegeta recognised him.

"Back in the day when Vegeta killed me last, it was medieval times you were around too. I should explain that I've met you in several past lives - you look the same each time too." Goku murmured wistfully and ran a hand through her blue hair. He shook his head suddenly and continued speaking. "But to get back to the story, I had been courting you for a long time when Vegeta finally showed up. At first he wasn't _totally_ sure if I was the Devil but he knew that you were the one who was prophesised to carry the Anti Christ and he decided that rather then kill a man who might or might not be evil, he'd kill you. And so to save himself trouble of testing me he ended your life - not voluntarily I don't think, but because he had no other way to lure me out or to test me for sure he was forced to kill you." Goku sighed and his eyes glazed over as he remembered those long ago times. "He never forgave himself for that I don't think. In the next life I found you in, you had married Vegeta and he was spending her every waking minute protecting you. I never bothered to go near you in that life. I waited for this one."

"Vegeta was married to me in another life?" Bulma whispered in disbelief, her face paling as though she was guilty.

"Yes. But he made you happy, so I didn't mind too much. Although I kept an eye on you both to make sure that he never hurt you in any way – but he was good to you. It's amazing what guilty men will do." Goku's words had an ironic ring to them and Bulma's mouth twisted wryly as she nodded. Goku shrugged and finished his tale.  "To cut the rest of the story short, I went back to hell and managed to get enough power to transport my own body here and I've been waiting around for you to be born ever since."

"Wow." Bulma breathed and shook her head in disbelief, her mind a million miles away. "I always thought Vegeta was such a nice guy…"

"Oh he is." Goku interrupted with a grin. "He's a great guy if you can get around his temper. You know why he's so good with woman?" Bulma shook her head and Goku chuckled. "Its one of his angelic powers - women are naturally attracted to angels...and devils." Goku leered playfully at her and Bulma gave a throaty laugh. He lent down and kissed her, growling softly in the back of his throat as he gathered Bulma close to him.

"Wait!" Bulma tore herself out of his grasp and her blue eyes widened in curiosity. "You didn't answer me before - do you think he knows who you are?" Bulma's voice was soft with concern and she lent against Goku's solid chest trustingly.

"He probably suspects who I am, but since he hasn't seen me in a very long time I'd imagine he's forgotten what I look like in my real form. Still, you can't let him know that you're pregnant. He'll kill you if he finds out - or he'll lock you away and then kill our child when he's born." Goku wrapped a muscular arm around Bulma's trembling form and regretted that his words were causing her such anxiety. "He's not a bad guy Bulma, he's just doing his job." Goku wondered at the back of his mind why he was defending his arrogant brother but shrugged the thought off – they'd been close before he'd fallen from grace and it was hard to remember, even after all the times he'd been killed by Vegeta, that Vegeta was now his enemy.

"Great, his job is to kill me." Bulma muttered dryly and closed wary eyes. "So what are we going to do? I mean, in case he finds out?"

"The only thing we can do." Goku looked down at Bulma's trembling form and felt a protective rage at Vegeta swarm up at forcing Bulma to once again leave her home. "We're going to run."

**~*~**

Vegeta let out a tense breath as he stared at the sky. He was sitting on one of the wooden deck chairs by the pool and was gazing into the pool water as his thoughts chased each other in circles. 

He was sure that this spiky haired stranger was Satan - and yet he didn't act as Satan had in the past. Vegeta shook his head and rubbed a hand across his eyes as he growled to himself.  He hoped that it wasn't _him_; he didn't want to fight with him all over again or have to hurt Bulma…again.

Bulma. Vegeta smiled a faintly bittersweet smile as he though about her. She was more beautiful each time he saw her. It was hard not to romance her off her feet as he had done in the last life. He could remember how sweet her lips were and how soft her skin was.

Vegeta closed his eyes and groaned in annoyance as he remembered the lords warning to never get _that_ close to her in another life ever again. He opened his eyes once more as his thoughts zeroed in on Goku.

Bulma seemed to like really him, in fact in all the time he'd known her he'd never seen her so enthused with a man like this before. Goku _had _to be the devil, it made sense – why else would Bulma fall so quickly in love? So what if he couldn't sense any demonic vibes? That didn't mean that Goku wasn't a demon…he could be masking his power and all it's negative vibes somehow…

"Hi Vegeta." Goku's voice interrupted his thoughts and Vegeta looked up to see the cause of his inner torment stroll out of the house. Bulma was nowhere in sight and Vegeta felt his heartbeat quicken as he realised this was the perfect time to slay Goku. "Enjoying the sun huh?" Goku sounded playful and innocent, like a child.

"Yes." Vegeta growled as he sat up and frowned in confusion as Goku gave a really dumb looking grin which was one hundred percent innocent looking.

"Yeah I love the sun too. I never used to go out in the sun much, I used to love the great indoors." Goku strolled over and sat down, still grinning stupidly as though he knew some great joke that only _he_ was privy too. Had Bulma said something about him to this guy? Was he mocking him behind that childish façade?

Vegeta frowned in anger and forced himself not to demand and explanation for this man's smile. "So you like Bulma huh?" Vegeta blurted the question out of thin air and mentally slapped himself as an awkward silence ensured.

"Yeah, she's great." Goku told him stiltedly, blushing as though embarrassed to speak of such things. "She looked so lonely at the club sitting all by herself…and several creepy guys were eyeing her off." Goku smiled again. "Some _really_ creepy people." Goku whispered as looked into the pool water and smiled. 

Vegeta gasped, as for a split second it seemed as if Goku had no reflection in the water! But then he blinked and Goku's reflection smiled stupidly up at him. "So is Vegeta your full name?"

"Yes, my father never thought I would need another name." Vegeta's tone betrayed none of his annoyance at Goku but he frowned when Goku laughed. "What's so funny?" He demanded.

"Oh nothing." Goku shook his head in what appeared to be genuine amusement. "I just though _everyone_ on earth had a full name." Goku's grinned maliciously to himself as Vegeta growled.

"Well what's yours?" Vegeta demanded rudely again, still frowned dangerously. Goku froze for a second and looked slightly panicked at Vegeta's frosty tone, then he seemed to relax and he laughed.

"Goku Son. That's my name." He ran a hand though his wild black spikes and met Vegeta's gaze with a friendly and vacant stare which he had seen earlier on the face of Bulma's friend Marron.

"Son? That's a weird name." Vegeta tried to relax and sound friendly but he couldn't. There was something about Goku that made him bristle and put him on edge, something almost unnatural.

"Yeah I know, my father never gave much thought to naming me." Goku sounded bitter and his face darkened. "I was never his favourite child." He laughed roughly and Vegeta heard pain in his voice.

"You don't get on with your father?" The angel in Vegeta made him ask the question. The pain in Goku's voice had been momentary heart stopping. It had been a black hurt that he had never seen before outside of Purgatory.

"My father used to act like he was God, always ordering me around and telling me what to do." Goku met his eyes and Vegeta for the smallest of seconds Vegeta had the insane urge to offer his help to this man. Then Goku's looked away and looked back at the house. "You know I think I've _distracted_ you for long enough, I'd best get back to Bulma." Goku sounded oddly regretful as he spoke. He vaulted to his impressive height and waved to Vegeta as he turned and sauntered back to the house.

Vegeta started to yell goodbye when he noticed something about Goku that made his breath freeze in his throat. It couldn't be possible…it couldn't be him! But there was the unmistakable proof that Goku was _he_.

Goku had no shadow.

Vegeta watched him walk away and struggled to fight off the tight feeling in his chest. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He shouldn't have been so surprised; he'd known all long deep down and now he knew for sure that Goku was the Devil.

And that he had to be stopped at all costs.

**~*~**

A/N – As always thank you for reading this chapter and please review! Reviewers are super cool!


	7. The Danger

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter Seven ~*~**

Goku hurried back inside Bulma's house, he could feel Vegeta's eyes boring into his back and he suppressed a shiver. Although Goku didn't think Vegeta knew who he was yet, there was always the possibility that he might find out and he had to get Bulma as far away as possible before that happened. The thought of what Vegeta might do to Bulma if he found out she was carrying his child was too horrible to imagine.

"Ready?" Goku asked as he met Bulma on the stairs and took the carry bag she was carrying out of her hand. Bulma was trembling slightly and she seemed to look through him as though she was in a daze. "I said, _are you ready_?" Goku asked again, frowning slightly.

Bulma blinked and focused on him. "Yes I'm ready. Goku, I think you should know that when you went inside Vegeta chucked a small fit outside. I was watching through the window and he turned angry looking and started yelling. Then he went to the back of his car and…" Bulma's voice petered out and she sighed regretfully.

"And?" Goku prompted, frowning at this sudden turn of events. How had Vegeta found out what he was? How had he given himself away?

"And then you called me down." Bulma's eyes were wild and grabbed Goku by the shirt collar. "He knows doesn't he? Oh sweet God! He knows and now he's going to kill me!" Bulma choked on a sob and fell forward on Goku to cry.

"No! I wont let that happen again! I'm going to protect you Bulma." Goku pushed her away from him and forced her to look at him. "We're going to get out of here now!" Goku took Bulma's hand and dragged her towards the back door, not wanting to waste any more time waiting for Vegeta to make his move. "Just remember that whatever happens you can't tell _anyone_ that you're pregnant! It might get back to him somehow and then he'll hunt you down and he'll be forced to kill you or the baby or both." Goku kicked open the back door and ran out, still pulling Bulma behind him. He looked around for any sign of Vegeta but finding the coast clear he nodded reassuringly at Bulma and bolted towards her car; a sleek black GT falcon.

Bulma gasped as she stumbled and almost fell as they ran across her lawn, but Goku's kept his grip on her arm and pulled her to her feet again.

"SATAN!" Vegeta's scream was both desperate and angry at the same time and both Goku and Bulma paused for a second as Vegeta walked around the back of the house with a sawn-off shotgun in his hands. As he walked towards them he began to load the gun, a mad gleam in his eye.

"Oh fuck!" Goku cursed. "Where are the car keys?" He asked as he grabbed Bulma and pulled her around the other side of the car. They dropped to the ground and Bulma fumbled in her pocket, her hands shaking so badly it was almost impossible to get her keys out, eventually she managed to jerk them free of the material and handed them to Goku.

He shoved the keys into the car door with a one-minded determination then pulled open the car door. "Get in the car!" Goku ushered Bulma into the car and hurled himself in after her. Bulma crawled across the seats and crouched low in the passenger side as Goku put settled himself in the drivers seat. He put the keys into the ignition and turned them, the cars engine roared to life and he slammed his door as he slammed his foot onto the gas pedal and they took off in a spray of gravel. 

Behind them they heard the thunder of the shotgun and the car rocked violently as Vegeta fired and blew a hole in the back window. Glass shattered all over them and Bulma screamed as she cowered in her seat. Goku cursed but kept driving fast until they were clear of Bulma's house.

"Oh Jesus!" Bulma moaned into her shaking hands. She looked over at Goku with wide blue eyes. "He was actually going to try to kill us!"

"I said he would." Goku said between his teeth as he shook glass out of his hair. "Are you okay?" He spared her a sideways glance as he drove them towards the city.

Bulma nodded and cleared her throat uneasily. "I'm fine, I just can't believe that was really _my_ Vegeta back there." She stared out the window and replayed the entire scene in her mind again. "He really would have killed wouldn't he?"

Goku nodded as he slowed the car and, with a squeal of tires, pulled into an underground car park. He eased the car into a parking space and switched off the engine before he turned to face Bulma once more.  "Listen, I have a place we can go to for now but it wont be safe for long. Vegeta knows what I look like, he knows I own a club and believe it or not your friend Vegeta has several good friends on the police force who he'll probably have out looking for us." He held Buna's eye with his to make sure she understood how serious the situation was.

"What are you saying? That we'll have to spend the rest of our lives running away from him?" Bulma slid down into her seat and a tear trickled down her cheek. "That I'll never see any of my friends again?"

"I'm sorry Bulma." Goku swallowed and gently picked a piece of glass out of her hair, regret written across his face. "It wasn't supposed to be like this, but it'll get better, I promise. We can stay in my cabin up in North woods. I have some friends up there who'll help us but we'll have to leave the country as soon as the heat dies down."  He looked down at his hands, one of which still gripped the steering wheel and he slowly he let go. "I'm sorry."

"It's too late for that now." Bulma wiped the tear away and sat up straight again, purpose coming into her eyes. "We'd better ditch the car, Vegeta will be looking for it." She opened her car door and slid out, glass tinkling onto the seats as it fell from her clothing.

"Yeah." Goku stared at her empty seat for a few moments before opening his door and stepping out. He surveyed the other cars packed in the parking lot, and smiled suddenly. "I'm sure I can hot wire one of these little babies."

**~*~**

"SHIT!" Vegeta hurled the shotgun to the ground and screamed in rage. "FUCK!" He kicked the gun and sent it sailing into one of Bulma's ornamental bushes. He clenched his fists and a vein popped out on his forehead as he struggled to control his temper.

He'd failed! He'd let him get to her! 

"Vegeta? What the hell just happened?" Yamcha walked slowly out of the back door, his hair and clothing in disarray as though he'd thrown it on in a hurry. "What the hell was that sound? Where'd Bulma go?" He frowned at the sight of the skid marks in the gravel and realisation dawned in his eyes. "He was _here_ wasn't he? He was here all along and we never knew!" Yamcha put a hand to his head and began to breath heavily. "What happened exactly?"

"He fucking took her! They fucking got away!" Vegeta ranted. He clenched his teeth as another wave of rage washed over him and he stared helplessly up at the sky as though asking God for forgiveness. 

"What! You let them get away!" Yamcha exclaimed angrily. His eyes glittered as he began to pace back and forth. "_Now_ I know why God sent me down here to help you watch the girl! You're hopelessly incompetent! You let that demonic maniac take her!" Yamcha kicked an empty shotgun cartridge across the lawn and faced Vegeta. "This is all your fault!"

"Shut up Michael!" Vegeta glared angrily at his counterpart, helpless to deny that it was indeed all his fault.

"Hey! Don't use my real name here! It's Yamcha! Not Michael! Yamcha!" Yamcha bit out angrily. He cursed loudly and crossed his arms as he closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "God's going be pissed about this."

"Tell me about it! I can't believe I missed the fucker with my shotgun! I thought I had him for sure, but all I did was blow the car windscreen away." Vegeta spat angrily and mentally cursed the prince of lies. He and Yamcha slowly turned and walked back into the house, their minds working quickly to think of a solution to this new development.

"We have to rectify this situation fast." Yamcha opened the door and walked back into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and sighed, slowly shaking his head again as he thought of the dire consequences Goku taking Bulma could have. "I'll tell God about _your_ little mistake while you get onto the police - tell them he kidnapped her or something." Yamcha immediately bowed his head and began to mutter prayers under his breath.

"Right." Vegeta walked to the phone, murmuring something less charitable then a prayer under his breath as he dialled the emergency number. "Stupid Michael, thinks he's so good just because he's the general of Gods army. Well he can take his…" Vegeta stopped muttering as the emergency operator answered. "Hello? Oh thank God! It's my girlfriend…She's been kidnapped!" Vegeta tried to sound as panicked as possible…

**~*~**

Bulma closed her eyes and sighed to herself softly, she no longer bring herself to look out the car window at the monotonous view of tree's whizzing past. In truth the never changing scenery was almost painful to watch.

They had been driving for over an hour and already Bulma was beginning to realise just how much her life had changed. It was more then just leaving her home and her friends behind her that had been changed. It was her moral views and the way in which she viewed the world that had changed the most dramatically.

It was still so hard to believe that only yesterday she hadn't known Goku had even existed, and even harder to believe that yesterday she had been a normal girl with friends and a sunny future in engineering; she'd been normal, and now her life was anything but.

Yet she trusted Goku. Despite him turning her world upside down and inside out she trusted him more then she trusted any of her other friends. Goku was evil, there was no denying that small detail, but even though he was a devil and not in the slightest way kindly inclined towards the human race, Bulma still liked him; still trusted him.

"Bulma?" Goku whispered gently in her ear as though afraid of waking her up.

"I'm awake." She opened her eyes to find that Goku had parked the car outside of a small wooden cabin set far back from the road. She sat up straighter and looked interestedly at the rustic cabin which provoked memories of Bulma's childhood days when she had spent winters at her fathers cabin. She blinked as she realised Goku had said something to her. "Sorry I was day dreaming." Bulma murmured apologetically as she stretched, swallowing her childhood memories back down. "So this is your cabin?"

"Yeah." Goku ran a hand through his hair. A gesture that Bulma recognised as one that he only made when he was stressed. The cabin door opened and a young man with shoulder length black hair and a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair stepped out onto the porch.

"So who are these guys?" Bulma frowned at the smirking figures and looked tensely at Goku. "Are they friends or foe?" The tension in her voice was obvious and Goku smiled to put her at ease.

"Well, the man sold his soul to me a while ago and we've stayed good friends ever since." Goku told Bulma gently as he opened his car door and gracefully stepped out. He closed it behind him and sauntered around to open Bulma's door for her.

"What did he sell it to you for?" Bulma asked, taking Goku's offered hand and sliding out of the car seat.

"He traded it to me for power. You now - the ability to fly and shoot beams, typical comic book super villain powers." Goku smirked as though he found this hilariously funny and led Bulma towards the front door of the cabin. "He lives here with a friend of mine, she was an angel sent to help Vegeta until I managed to convert her to the dark side." Goku's smirk widened as he spoke, evidently pleased at having bested Vegeta in something.

"That's impressive." Bulma said what she supposed Goku wanted to hear, not really knowing what to say to that. She followed her demonic lover slowly, the cabin somehow managing to look foreboding even in the bright sunshine.

"Yeah, I guess. She was always one of the more rebellious angels though, she was easy to seduce to the dark side." Goku opened his mouth to say more when a seductive low voice interrupted him.

"Seduced? I don't remember being seduced to the dark side." The blond woman tossed her hair behind her shoulder in a habitual gesture and looked at Goku with low-lidded eyes. "I remember being given the choice of joining you or death." The woman smirked at Goku and then looked at Bulma appraisingly. "So _you're_ the famous Bulma." She sounded amused and curious at the same time.

"Yeah I-I'm Bulma." Bulma stuttered and moved closer to Goku, not entirely trusting this beautiful young woman whose eyes were as icy as winter skies.

"Come on now Eighteen, be nice to our guests. The poor girl has probably had a hard day." Another drawling voice came from the cabin porch and both Bulma and Goku tore their attention away from the woman and focused on the good looking young man who stood next to her. Up close Bulma could see that his hair was as black as Goku's was but his eyes were just as icy as Eighteens were.

He stared down at them from the top of the veranda that surrounded the cabin and slowly made his way down the rickety wooden stairs until he faced Goku. "You need my help, eh?" Although the young man's tone was insolent sounding it was obvious by the sparkle in his eyes that he was pleased to see Goku.

"I never thought the day would come either, Seventeen." Goku mocked the young man and looked down at Seventeen with a delighted grin on his face that managed to look both sweet and out of place. "So are you going be nice or do I have to remind you of our little agreement?" Goku suddenly spoke with a menacing tone and his eyes flashed red as though to remind his friend not to try anything mischievous while they were around. Seventeen's eyes widened a little in fear before he recovered and laughed easily, taking Goku's abrupt personality switch in his stride.

"Sure why not, I could use a little excitement around here." Seventeen winked at Bulma before leading the way back up the stairs and through the gaping black hole that was the entrance to the cabin.

**~*~**

A/N – I like this chapter…the image of Vegeta with a sawn-off shotgun in his hands is a very nice picture indeed. If anyone can draw Vegeta fanart I'd really appreciate a picture of it…but I won't hold my breath ^_^ Anyhow, please review! Reviews are cool!


	8. The Search

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter 8 ~*~**

Seventeen's charming little cabin was furnished sparsely but comfortably inside. The main living room had real log walls; the floor was made of polished hard wood boards and what little furniture there was seemed to be made out of solid oak. There were three huge wooden chairs with brown velvet cushions thrown carelessly on them and a long wooden table with a vase full of snapdragons perched in the centre of it.

On the floor was a thick fur rug. What kind of animal it might have come from Bulma had no idea, but the fur was red and soft to the touch. Aside from these few furnishings there were two landscape paintings hanging on the walls and, of course, on one side of the room a fire burnt in a stone fireplace, the flames flickering warmly and invitingly. All in all, the cabin had a friendly and warm inside that was at odds with the couple that lived there.

Goku, Eighteen and Seventeen sat in the huge chairs in the sitting room while Bulma huddled on the rug on the floor, sitting as close to Goku as she possibly could. From the corner of her eye she could see Seventeen watching her with a smirk on his face. He didn't bother to hide the appreciative gleam in his eyes as he looked Bulma up and down several times, however he quickly ceased his peeping when Goku growled something at him that Bulma couldn't quite hear and wasn't sure she wanted to.

Idly she wondered if Seventeen had been such a womanising jerk before he'd sold his soul. It was possible that the sly, sneaky aura he gave off was merely a symptom of being soulless but somehow Bulma doubted it. Whatever the cause of his current demeanour, whatever it was that Goku had said to him had apparently scared Seventeen stiff and he hurriedly looked away form Bulma and swallowed hard.

"We need a game plan." Eighteen murmured to no one in particular. She was perched precariously on the edge of her wooden seat, sitting on the edge as though some unseen force balanced her out. Bulma tilted her head to the side and watched her, wondering if she had invisible wings or something like that. 

Eighteen was one weird woman - thatwas for sure!__

"Yeah." Goku agreed tiredly. He yawned loudly several time in succession and blinked rapidly as though he hadn't gotten enough sleep. "I guess that if worse comes to worse I can always fight Vegeta while you get Bulma to a safe place – assuming he can find us that is." 

Goku didn't look too thrilled with this idea. But wether it was at the thought of losing Bulma or at the thought of fighting Vegeta, Bulma didn't really want to find out. She had a sinking idea that he was less thrilled at the though of fighting his archenemy. So far Vegeta had certainly shown a side of himself that Bulma would have never guessed was there. She could still see that manic glint in his eyes as he'd rounded the corner of the house armed with that shotgun…

"I suppose." Seventeen reluctantly agreed, interrupting Bulma's thoughts as he apparently considered Goku's idea. He chewed his lip as he mulled it over, then finally with a shrug he sat up straight in his chair and leaned close to Goku. "Look, I'm probably the best fighter here apart from you…"

"Hello? Heavenly Being within earshot." Eighteen interrupted, her full red lips shaped in a perfect pout. "I'm way stronger then you are, _mortal_." She tossed her fine blond hair over her shoulder and glared ridiculously at her counterpart.

"Are not!" Seventeen squabbled fiercely, his blue eyes flashing as they clashed with Eighteen's.

"Are too!" Eighteen argued just as stubbornly, sticking her tongue out rudely.

"SHUT UP!" Goku roared, silencing their childish fighting with an inhuman bellow. "It doesn't matter which of you is stronger! Your both going to fight this time! The main point is that in the unlikely circumstance that Vegeta _does_ managed to get Bulma, he cannot find out that she's pregnant. If he does he'll turn nasty and could probably end up killing my girl and my kid." Goku slumped back in his chair at this thought and looked down at Bulma as though she was already lost to him.

"Girl?" Eighteen raised her eyebrows at the term Goku had used to refer to Bulma.

"Kid?" Seventeen's eyebrows rose to a similar height as Eighteen's had and the two of them exchanged a look. Snickering quietly amongst themselves as Goku reddened. Bulma wearily leant back against Goku's legs and tried as best she could to ignore the pointless planning. 

Somehow she knew that when the time came nothing would go smoothly. 

Nothing ever did.

**~*~**

Yamcha growled angrily to himself as Vegeta hung up the phone with a sigh. God had been his usual forgiving self – although he'd still been pretty pissed off about them losing the girl. He'd said something about Vegeta and he being as useless as each other and then had given them his usual blessing and had cut the communication.

Yamcha didn't know wether to be happy that God didn't smite him or unhappy that God was angry with him.

"The cops are being very helpful." Vegeta told him as he lounged against the kitchen counter top and crossed his arms across his chest. "I managed to get in touch with Piccolo - you know, my contact.  He said that he'll put out a call to all police cruisers in our area to keep a watch out for their car." Vegeta shrugged and continued. "He also said that he could call up the milk carton factory and could get her photo on the back as a missing person." Vegeta looked away suddenly, his face drawn and unhappy looking. "I hope she's ok. I hope that bastard doesn't hurt her or anything." Vegeta's voice was calm despite his inner turmoil.

"She'll be fine. Satan's always had a soft spot for her." Yamcha's jaw clenched and his eyes hardened. "We all know that." He stood up and was about to relay to Vegeta exactly what God had said when Marron came prancing into the room, happily smiling at them both as she opened the fridge and pulled out a tin of soft drink.

She was dressed in an indecently short pink and white chequered skirt that showed off miles of her long legs and a white tank top which left absolutely nothing to Yamcha' imagination. 

Not that he hadn't seen it all before.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She giggled as she sidled over to Yamcha and lent up against him, attracted to his angel aura as most woman were.

"Bulma's missing." Vegeta stated flatly, his eyes dull as he continued to agonise inwardly on her kidnapping. "You know the guy she was with? Goku? Well he kidnapped her." Vegeta watched as a naïve shock spread over her young features.

"Kidnapped? Oh, how horrible!" Marron gasped, her hands rising to clutch at her throat dramatically.

"You have no idea." Vegeta glanced out the window at the bluer then blue sky and sighed to himself. 

Yamcha frowned at Vegeta's behaviour and gave Marron a quick hug. "Marron, if Bulma calls you then you have to tell us everything she says. She might even be rambling from shock so don't take any notice of what she says, just keep her on the phone for as long as possible and then tell us what she said." He spoke slowly, not wanting Marron to misinterpreted the importance of what he was saying.

"I will." Marron said sincerely, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears. She looked sadly down at her drink and then dejectedly walked out of the kitchen, her face still fraught and scared looking as she worried for her friend.

The two men watched her leave and when the kitchen door had shut behind her Yamcha spoke up again. "Where do you think he's taken her? You know him better then I do." Yamcha sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and rested his head in his hands.

"I don't know him well at all." Vegeta scoffed. "Nobody does! He's too damn unpredictable! My top guesses would be that he's taken her to a hotel in the hope of seducing her or that he's left the country. It's even possible that he's gone off somewhere to seek help from one of the many people in the soulless hoard that worships him." Vegeta spat in distaste frowned angrily. "I don't know where he's taken her but I do know that whatever happens he is going to try to get her pregnant. If he succeeds…"

"Well have to kill her." Yamcha finished for him. 

Vegeta looked frightening angry for a second and then, hesitantly, he spoke up again. "Not necessarily, we could wait for her to give birth and then…kill it." Vegeta's voice was deceptively soft. He didn't like the thought of killing a baby, but he liked the though of killing Bulma again even less. His ebony eyes became unfocused as Vegeta remembered the last time he'd killed her.

"You like the girl don't you?" Yamcha brought Vegeta out of his thoughts and he slowly shook his head in disgust. "You _do know_ that she's just as bad as he is don't you? Whatever you think you feel for her you have to remember that Bulma is just as impure and dirty inside as he is." Yamcha earnestly looked into his friends face, willing him to fight the lustful hold that Bulma had on him.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Vegeta ground out angrily. He impatiently began to pace around the kitchen, his hands gesturing wildly as he spoke. "She's almost totally human now! She isn't the person she used to be and we can't judge her by past sins." Once again Vegeta looked at the window at the blue sky, smiling slightly as he linked the colour to Bulma's eyes.

"You love her don't you?" Yamcha's mouth dropped open in surprise and he shook his head in disbelief. Vegeta's eye twitched and he tried to suppress his rage as Yamcha began to chuckle as though he found this hysterically funny. "Don't worry old buddy, I wont tell God that one of the Fallen gets you hot." Yamcha laughed again as Vegeta growled under his breath. "You know, maybe I should request God to replace you with another angel. Obviously you've become personally involved in this mission, in fact you should probably stay here while I go and fid the woman." Yamcha condescendingly stood up and placed a hand on Vegeta's shoulder.

"Shut up!" Vegeta yelled, his eyes flashing as he jerked away form Yamcha, picked up the car keys on the bench and threw them at him as hard as he possibly could. "Fine then! If you're so pure and untainted then you go and find Bulma! You can let your angelic senses guide you!" Vegeta opened the kitchen door that led outside and watched as Yamcha collected the car keys from off the floor and skulked through the door as though expecting Vegeta to hit him.

Vegeta slammed the door behind him and took the phone in his hand again. With a heavy heart he flipped through the phone book until he came upon the first phone number of the motels with a twenty-mile radius. Somehow he knew Goku wouldn't have gone too far. He'd stay close to home until he though the heat had died down and then he'd take off for some place far away.

Vegeta grinned maliciously, he knew far more about Goku then he'd ever tell Yamcha. He'd once been best friends with Goku when they had been in heaven together. Oh yes, he knew the demon better then anyone else in heaven and earth did.

On the other end of the phone someone picked up and Vegeta immediately launched into his prepared speech. "Hello? Yes, I was wondering if two people might have checked into your motel lately. Well one is a blue haired woman about 5'3 tall and the other one is a man about 5'9 with spiky black hair. Yes I know you can't give out confidential information. I know that. It's just that the girl is my girlfriend and she's been kidnapped. Well, here's my number so call me if they do show up: 555 0932 876 61. Yes. No thanks. Yes, okay. Thank you, goodbye." Vegeta hung up with a barely restrained shudder and flipped through the phone book to the next number.

**~*~**


	9. The Fear

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter 9 ~*~**

Bulma was dancing with Goku, slow dancing to the tune of some far away eerie music, music that was so distant she could barely hear it. The tune of this music was so strange and foreboding that goose bumps spread over her skin and Bulma shivered. Goku wrapped his arms around her tighter and whispered something to her in a language she couldn't understand, but the tone of this voice was comforting and Bulma sank gratefully into his embrace.

She rested her head on his shoulder, rubbing her cheek against the rough material of his jacket as she looked around her with interest. They were surrounded by blackness, a thick oozing blackness that was so completely dark that Bulma felt as if they were actually inside some sort of monstrous cavern. Yet she could still see things in the dark, it was as though the light was selective about what it illuminated. She could see that the floor was polished darkness and that to their right in the darkness there was a red rose standing in a black crystal vase. The vase was standing on what looked like a coffin and Bulma shut her eyes tightly against the chill that started down her spine.

"Bulma, help me!" The frightened and familiar voice echoed quietly through the cavern and the ghostly music faded away until a frigid silence filled the air. With a shock Bulma realised that Goku was gone and that the darkness was closing in on her, taking the form of some huge shapeless beat that oozed blackness into the very air itself. She took a frightened step back and the cavern spun around her, re-positioning itself as though it had a mind of it's own. The coffin with the vase was in front of her now and the black demon was at her back, it's deep rumbling growl echoing deceptively soft around her, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to rise.

Bulma took a step towards the coffin, bands of fear tightening themselves around her chest as she heard the monster take a step towards her; it's claws clicking on the polished darkness of the floor. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the coffin, placing one foot in front of the other. Around her the temperature seemed to drop the nearer she got to the coffin and her breath froze in the air in front of her like little puffs of cloud.

She could no longer hear the beast behind her, but she knew it was still there and somehow the silence of the demon was far more terrifying then it's growling had ever been. She could feel it watching her as she cautiously approached the coffin, her blue eyes impossibly wide as she waited for the creature to lunge at her and render her limb from limb. The floor rippled under her feet as the dance floor had done at the club only nights ago.

Something shiny swam beneath her feet and Bulma caught site of a pair of glowing red eyes under the surface of the floor. With a sudden gasp Bulma realised that it was the beast and that it had somehow slipped into the floor and it was hunting her from beneath! A cry was torn from her throat as the creature began to come towards her the floor rippling disgusting like oil as it neared her, Bulma screamed and began to run towards the coffin with the beast right behind her, one clawed hand reached out to grab her ankle least she should slip…

Bulma reached the coffin and everything seemed to freeze again. The floor became solid under her feet again and the only sound she could hear was her thumping heart and her gasps for breaths as she bent double, trying to calm her body down. Bulma looked at the coffin and straightened to her full height. Up close it was now possible for her to see that the red rose was drenched in blood and that the crystal vase was really clear but it was coated in so thickly in blood that from a distance it had appeared black.

Bulma reached out a trembling hand to open the coffin lid, and with an unnatural lurch the lid seemed to fly from the coffin before her hand could touch it. Bulma screamed as she looked down at the face of her friend, distantly aware of the shattering of crystal as the vase hit the floor and smashed into pieces, an impossible amount of blood beginning to ooze from the shattered pieces.

Marrons face was twisted with pain and her eyes and mouth were frozen open in agony, with another cry of horror Bulma spun away from the corpse of her friend and dropped to her knee's as the cavern began to melt away into nothing and Bulma was left kneeling in an endless void…

**~*~**

Bulma woke up with a start, the bed sheets were drenched in sweat and she body was being racked by fine tremors. Her blue eyes were wide with remembered fear and her heart was beating so hard and fast in her chest she thought it would burst free.  "Marron…" Bulma tried to calm herself down, but her heart continued to hammer inside of her chest in fear. She could remember every detail of the dream perfectly…and it was terrifying. "It was just a dream Bulma, back to sleep, it was just a dream." Bulma whispered to herself and layback down on the bed. Next to her Goku lying quietly; sleeping peacefully with one arm flung out across her. It was a wonder that he hadn't woken up when she had sat up.

Bulma sat up again, unable to sleep despite her best efforts. She had a feeling, an incredibly bad feeling that something awful was going to happen to Marron – it was as though the dream was some kind of warning. She would be unable to sleep again until she had called Marron and heard her voice. She wouldn't talk to her, she'd just phone to hear her voice, to made sure she was safe at home and not dead. Goku would never know that she had disobeyed him…she wouldn't be putting them in danger at all… 

She crept out of bed with out waking Goku and tiptoed over to the phone. With one last cautious glance over her shoulder at the bed she lifted the receiver and punched in the number of her share house with Marron. The phone rang and rang; Bulma counted twelve rings when a breathless sounding Yamcha picked it up.

"Hello?" His voice was sharp and suspicious. It was tempting to talk to him but Bulma resisted the urge and was silent – after all Vegeta might have told Yamcha everything. If Goku was right then Vegeta had probably told Marron and Yamcha some sort of weird story in order to win their trust. Bulma's eyes lit up as a brilliant idea flew into her head; maybe if she pretended to be someone else she could get Marron on the phone without alerting Yamcha to her presence!

"Uh…Hiya! I'm after Marron, do I have the right number?" Bulma pitched her voice to sound higher and mousier and added a girlish squeak to it.

"Oh yeah, this is her house." Yamcha sounded disappointed and Bulma breathed a sigh of relief as she realised that he must have been waiting for her to call. Obviously Vegeta had put him up it! 

She waited a beat before talking again. "Could you tell her that Charlene is on the phone?" Charlene was a mutual friend of Marron and Bulma's and it was doubtful that Yamcha would find anything suspicious in a phone call from one of Marron's ditzy friends – even at this early hour.

"Sure thing." She heard the sound of the phone being placed down on the counter and she heard Yamcha's footsteps leave the room, a minute later she heard his voice calling Marron and then she heard an answering squeal from the ditzy blue haired girl. Bulma heard Marrons quick footsteps come into the room and then the phone was picked up.

"Hiya Charlene…" Marron started to speak but Bulma urgently interrupted her.

"Its not Charlene, it's Bulma." Bulma couldn't help but talk to her friend. Even though she hadn't been gone for more then a day she was still missing her friend terribly. She waited for Marron to yell something about the devil taking her but instead was surprised when Marron began whispering urgently into the phone in a hushed voice.

"Bulma! How did you get away? Did he hurt you?" She sounded as though she was relieved and Bulma frowned at the phone in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Bulma tried to keep her voice calm - what on earth had Vegeta told her had happened? He'd obviously constructed some sort of elaborate lie…she'd have to be careful of what she said or she might give herself away.

Luckily, Marron had no such qualms about talking and she readily blurted out; "He kidnapped you! That Goku guy did! Vegeta told me all about it." Marron paused as though she was listening to someone in the background. "Bulma where are you?" Her voice was calmer now, less ditzy and more in control.

Bulma frowned even harder at the phone. "I…" She shut her mouth with a snap before she could answer, swallowed hard and then thought of the right thing to say before speaking again. "I'm on my way home." Bulma crossed her fingers and prayed Marron would buy it. 

"Oh thank goodness…" 

Bulma was about to speak again when she heard a noise behind her. Startled, she yelped and dropped the phone back into the cradle and whirled to find Goku standing behind her.

"Goku!" Bulma said breathlessly, wondering why she felt so guilty all of a sudden.

"Who were you talking to?" Goku spoke quietly – _too quietly_. He sounded angry, positively livid. She could hear vibrations in his voice that sent chills up and down her spine.

"It was just Marron…I didn't tell her anything, I just had to make sure she was okay…I had a horrible dream, it seemed so life like…I had to phone her and make sure it was just a dream." Bulma blurted everything out and took a step back as Goku walked up to her, reached behind her and pulled the phone cord from the wall. He kept his eyes pinned on her face as he rolled up the cord and took the phone away. She could feel disapproval burning behind those ebony eyes and it was a struggle for Bulma not to look away as though she were a naughty child.

"What are you doing?" She frowned as Goku uttered some strange demonic words and the phone disappeared into thin air. Around them the silence thickened until Bulma felt certain that something bad was going to happen…

"I was getting rid of that phone, obviously I should never have trusted you not to not phone your human friends." Goku spoke through his teeth and took another step towards her. He clasped one of his hands around her wrist and herked her forward so that she was eye to eye with him.

"Why are you so upset?" Bulma cringed at his harsh tone and tried to look anywhere but into his eyes – somehow he was going to try to trap her in his eyes; trap her so she would never defy him again…

"Because they could have had a tap on the line, they might know where we are and they might be on their way here even as we speak." Goku pulled her wrist again and dragged her back into the bedroom. He let go of her and folded his arms, his eyes still smouldering with anger.  "Get some _proper _clothes on while I pack our stuff. It isn't safe here anymore so we'll have to leave." He turned to the wardrobe and pulled out their few belonging.

"But where are we going?" Bulma rubbed her wrist and began to strip off the nightie she had borrowed from Eighteen. Her own clothes were folded neatly on a chair on the other side of the room. As she padded across the room to get them she could feel Goku's eyes burning into her back.

"I don't know, somewhere distant." Goku looked away from Bulma and stuffed their clothes into a bag. It was going to take a miracle for them to get away from Vegeta now…

**~*~**

"Did you trace the number and address?" Vegeta hopped from foot to foot as Yamcha shushed him and copied a phone number and address onto a piece of paper. He hung up the phone with a sly smile and waved the piece of paper in Vegeta's face.

"Yes, I did." Yamcha glanced at the paper and then stuffed it into his pocket. "She called from a house up in the mountains owned by an S. Gero. The phone, however, is registered to a Miss Eighteen." Yamcha looked disapproving for a moment. "I'll take a wild guess and predict that they'd be some of Goku's little soulless horde?" He grabbed his jacket and pulled it on, determined to catch Goku before he could make his getaway.

"Well, S. Gero would be Seventeen Gero. He traded his soul a while back to Goku. At one stage the little fucker tried to kill me, but he failed." Vegeta grabbed the car keys and headed out the front door. "He's more dangerous then you'd think and he's completely loyal to Goku. I've lost count of the number of people he's killed and tortured in Goku's name."

"So who's the girl? This Miss Eighteen?" Yamcha hurried after Vegeta, closing and locking the door behind him. "Is she also a soulless person?" He jogged to catch up with the shorter angel.

"Eighteen? You've got to be kidding me!" Vegeta slapped his forehead, and stared at Yamcha as though he was a babbling idiot. "Where have you been for the last few hundred years? Eighteen is the Angel of Death - the _fallen angel_ foretold to lead the three horsemen of the apocalypse…didn't you know her name was Eighteen?" Vegeta shook his head in wonder as Yamcha stared at him dumbstruck.

"I did know her name, I did!" Yamcha snapped defensively, glaring at Vegeta for daring to belittle him. "I just didn't think she'd be living in a cabin in the woods. Plus I always though she was a _he_." Vegeta looked at him blankly and Yamcha clarified; "I thought that Death was a guy."

"Well that shows what you know, doesn't it?" Vegeta scoffed as he jumped into the car, inserted the keys and revved his car. He barely waited for Yamcha to buckle up before he put his foot down and accelerated off - the tyres squealing as he turned the corner and left Bulma and Marrons house behind him. Vegeta kept this foot down on the accelerator as he headed towards the mountains, running red lights and stop signs and causing several automobile pileups from his dangerous driving. He shuddered to think how much this was going to cost him in traffic fines, but it would all be worth it if he could just get his Bulma back.

**~*~**

Goku tore out of the driveway, Eighteen and Bulma in the back while Seventeen rode shotgun, giving bad directions as he tried to read a map. They were attempting to make it to the airport to catch the 6.30 am flight to Mexico – but the chances of them making the flight were lessened somewhat by Seventeens idiocy.

"Left! I said left! No, no the other left…" 

"That's right, not left you idiot!" Eighteen clonked Seventeen over the head and snatched the map out of his hands. "Goku, continue down this road until you come to Spring Road – it's about five miles away, then turn right and keep going straight, that should get you to the airport." She folded the map and placed it on the floor by her feet.

"Thanks." Goku glared Seventeen and slowly shook his head as he focused back on the road again. "You should have swapped your soul for something useful like a higher IQ." His eyes narrowed. "Not even able to read a map, how pathetic." Goku muttered under his breath, he glanced in the rear-view mirror at Bulma and sighed. Se looked utterly miserable…maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on her.

In the back seat Bulma hugged herself, she knew they wouldn't make it to the airport; she could feel it in her bones that Vegeta wasn't far off at all. It was like a humming in her mind that told her that he was getting closer to them with every passing breath. 

"This is all my fault." Bulma whispered to herself as she rested her forehead on the cool glass of the window and watched the tree's zip by.

**~*~**


	10. The Child

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter 10 ~*~**

Vegeta and Yamcha cruised down the highway at a speed that was several times over the legal speed limit - but neither of them was too concerned with abiding the law at the present time. They could both feel that they were close to finding _them_. It was almost as though they could taste his scent on the air.

Despite being so close to accomplishing their goal, Yamcha prayed in the passenger seat while Vegeta drove. Secretly Yamcha was terrified that Vegeta was going to get them both killed with his reckless driving, but out loud he merely pretending to be indifferent as Vegeta swerved through lanes without a care for the safety of themselves of the other drivers around them.

Vegeta glowed at Yamcha as he drove. He couldn't comprehend how Yamcha could be an angel and yet have such a complete and utter lack of survival sense! He was a complete and utter fool when it came for preparing do to battle on the Earthly plane! The man had actually suggested that they _not_ use human weapons to fight Goku. How idiotic could you get? Human weapons were one of the few things which could slow Goku down long enough for them to actually launch an angelic attack on him. Sure the human weapons wouldn't kill him, but they sure as hell would hurt him!

_Such ignorance! _Vegeta thought with spite, he glanced at Yamcha again and felt a twang of dislike spread through him. With an obvious effort he forced his farseeing gaze back onto the road and frowned at a car that was heading the other way. It had to be at least as far over the speed limit as they were judging by its approaching speed. Although the car wasn't familiar, Vegeta felt a tingling down his sine and as the strange car flashed past, Vegeta's gaze zeroed in on the windows and he saw a flash of familiar spiky hair.

Cursing Vegeta slammed on the breaks and turned the steering wheel. "Shit! Its him!" Vegeta roared in excitement as he did a complete 180, ignoring Yamcha's startled yelps as he was thrown against the car door. The car brushed against the railings on the side of the road and sparks flew into the air as the car's metal ground against the railing. The light and sound lasted only for a second though, then Vegeta was facing the same way that Goku had been going and he slammed his foot onto the accelerator again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yamcha was screaming at him, his pace was pale and his were wild and glassy.

 "It him, it's Goku!" Vegeta explained with a growl, his teeth grinding against one another, as he had to brake sharply as a car pulled onto the highway from an adjoining road. Yamcha winced as Vegeta accelerated again and he was pressed back into his seat. "I told you to wear your seatbelt." Vegeta told Yamcha in a toneless voice, grimly gripping the wheel and concentrating on catching up to Goku's car. 

He didn't even feel the usual pleasure at being right when Yamcha was wrong; all he wanted was to make sure Bulma was safe and away from _him_!

**~*~**

Bulma saw the car speeding up behind them before Goku did and with a sudden clarity of sight she knew without a doubt that Vegeta was in that car. It was as though all her life she had been able to feel these presences around her but she had been shutting them out, and only Goku's presence had been enough to wake up her inner instincts. For that was what it felt like; her instincts telling her that Vegeta was coming for them. "Goku." Bulma yelped, her breath catching in her throat as she imagined what Vegeta might do to her and her baby if he caught them. "I think Vegeta's behind us…" She trailed off as Goku scoffed.

"Nonsense!" He bit out, completely sure that Bulma was being paranoid again. "How could they have found us already…." Goku shut up abruptly as he looked in his review mirror and saw Vegeta's car fast approaching them from behind. "Fuck!" He cursed, his power level rising as adrenaline flooded through his system.  "Shit, you're right! Okay people; seat belt time. This is going to be a rough ride." Goku clicked his own seatbelt on and stepped on the accelerator. 

With a roar their car went even faster and Seventeen cackled and leant back into his seat, clearly relishing the life-threatening situation his was in. His cold blue eyes sought Bulma's in the rear view mirror and he winked at her in a way that was far from reassuring. Bulma decided that Seventeen was clearly insane and she tore her eyes away from him, choosing instead to look at the blond seated next to her. Eighteen smirked at her with full red lips as she tightened her belt; her eyes were almost as icy and detached as Seventeens and Bulma looked away while cold shivers racked her body. With a small whimper of fear Bulma dubiously looked at her stomach, then scrunched in as close to the car door as she could, looking as though she was trying to melt into the car and away from the people surrounding her.

"Please be careful Goku. Remember about our baby." Bulma could barely believe how small her voice sounded, as her hands clutched at the small bulge on her stomach. Part of her was repulsed at how fast her child was growing while another part of her merely accepted this as the way which things were meant to be. There was an internal conflict raging within Bulma as he current human state of mind combated against her darker and more ancient side. 

It was hard to believe but her angelic side felt almost as evil as Goku's had.

Goku meanwhile frowned at her tone of voice then schooled his features to look confident as he looked back over the seat at her and flashed her a grin. "Trust me babe, I know what I'm doing." His black eyes caught her and Goku sent a flash of reassurance her way, hoping against hope that this would be the lifetime in which he and Bulma would finally be able to live together in peace. He was so tired of running from Vegeta and watching his love being slaughtered time an again at Vegeta's hands.

"That's not very reassuring." Bulma mumbled, not happy with the casual way in which Goku was handling the situation. Although it was obvious he was just trying to make her feel safer, his attitude was far too relaxed to put her at ease. She shrieked in alarm as Goku accelerated hard and abruptly turned left off an exit ramp, the tires screeching at the sudden turn. Bulma whirled around and was just in time to see Vegeta's car manage to make the turn - although it scraped hard against the ramp wall, sparks flying up behind it. 

Bulma blinked as she felt a sudden cooling touch thread its way through her mind. "What's happening to me?" She put a hand to her forehead and tried to ignore the presence of this other being inside of her mind. Images were flashing through her head from her dream last night - the vase crashing and blood pooling around it. Even the creature, which had chased her from below, was being shown to her. Her stomach felt warm and tingling and Bulma's eyes flew open as she realised that the presence she was feeling inside of her mind was her child. Somehow her child was powerful enough to already be manipulating her mind, and apparently it was flipping through her memories as though looking for something.

Bulma screamed and clutched at her head as the cold presence tried to soothe her. Although her child didn't feel evil there was an emptiness and a lack of emotion to its presence that scared her. Her blue eyes scrunched up in pain as her child continued to slide through her mind and slowly her eyes began to fill with red until Bulma stared sightlessly ahead with blood filled eyes. The pressure of her child's presence in her head eased off as it apparently saw through its mother's eyes - its gaze zeroing in on Goku. With another small cry the presence pulled sharply back into her mind and slowly it drifted away, trying to calm its mother down even as it relaxed its hold on her.

"Shit." Seventeen gazed in the review mirror at Bulma's face. "That was fucking awesome."

Bulma blinked and the blood drained from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks like two twin scarlet serpents. She let out her breath in a stark his and wiped them from her eyes with shaking hands. Inside of her stomach she felt her baby give out a warm glow of contentment and slowly all of the tension and panic drained out of her. 

He had just wanted to know what his father looked like.

Bulma blinked in astonishment. The thought had come from nowhere but she was certain that it was true; her baby _was_ a male and _had_ been searching for his father. It was almost as though the child had been become panicked by Bulma's state of mind and had sought out its father for protection.

"Do that again." Seventeen's voice broke through Bulma's reflection and she looked up shakily. The icy eyes man was looking at her as though she was fascinating and Bulma looked away from him, angrily that he had witnessed what had just happened. "Oh, come on…" He prompted again.

"Shut up!" Eighteen and Bulma hissed together. Bulma turned to look at the blond who was watching her with concern; she raised a hand and traced Bulma's jaw gently.

"Don't be afraid." She pulled Bulma closer and they clung to one another as Gou took another hard left, causing both of to be flung to the side of the car. Seventeen howled with laughter again, apparently the sight of Bulma crying blood combined with the aggressive driving was exciting him beyond measure. Bulma didn't know if Goku had seen what had just happened to her or if he had been too busy driving to notice; either way she intended to have a long talk with him about their baby if they ever got out of this situation.

Behind them Vegeta's car missed the turn but within twenty seconds it had turned around and caught up with them. Bulma could imagine Vegeta sitting grimly behind the wheel of his car, clutching the steering wheel with white knuckles and with that grim determined look in his eyes. She knew he was a speed freak and loved driving, needles to say it wouldn't be long before he caught up with them. They couldn't run from Vegeta forever, sooner or later he was going to find them.

"Fuck!" Goku cursed from the front seat. "Out of road!" He twisted the steering wheel and with much squealing of the car brakes, as well as squealing from Bulma and Eighteen, Goku managed to get the car turned around and facing back the way it had come. Vegeta's car screeched to a halt and sat running in the middle of the road, Goku revved the engine of his car and Vegeta's car gave an answering roar…

"Oh no! Not chicken!" Bulma pleaded. Her eyes widening as she realised what Goku was intending to do. "Vegeta is a bloody mad man, Goku!" She tried to reason with her significant other, only far too aware that this was going to end in trouble. "I forbid you to do this!" Bulma screamed and kicked the back of his seat to drive home her point. "If you don't stop the car this minute I'll jump out of it while it's moving!" Bulma gripped the car handle and panted as she prayed for Goku to listen to her.

"No, you wont." Goku scoffed, his sinister ebony eyes focusing on the car ahead as though it was the only thing that mattered to him.  "Besides, Vegeta won't put your life in danger, trust me!" The devil seated in front of her softened its voice in an attempt to placate Bulma, but she wasn't having any of it. She'd heard enough of Goku's reasoning for one day.

"You said the same thing about yourself and here we are playing chicken!" She spat at him through clenched teeth, fear beating inside of her chest as though it was a creature trying to get out. "Please! Stop it, Goku! Right this instant!" Bulma wailed and pulled at her car door as, with a squeal of tires, Goku accelerated towards Vegeta's car. As she tugged on the door handle it clicked uselessly in her hand.

"The child lock is on." Seventeen yelled above the sound of the car engine, managing to give her a crazy grin as they approached Vegeta's car at an insane speed. His ice-cold eyes were twinkling as though he'd never had so much fun in his life. Time slowed down for Bulma after that point. She was aware of scenery flying past as the car accelerated, of Eighteen gripping her hand and praying next to her; a fervent mutter to a God she had long ago turned her back on. Bulma watched as Vegeta's car bore down on them and with a sickening crunch and grinding of metal they two cars collided.

Bulma was jerked forward in her seat and a voice screamed wordlessly which Bulma recognised it as her own. Crazy laughter rose to join her screams from Seventeen and Eighteen mutterings of prayer turned into gibberish. Goku was silent as their car was lifted and flipped.

With a final crash they hit the ground and rolled; Seventeen's laughed was abruptly cut off and Bulma felt the air leave her body as the car collided with the ground and they slid along, the car rolling sickeningly around her. Blackness, like a stage curtain, descended and the world was cut off as Bulma felt a slicing pain cut through her and heard a final scream; then there was nothing but an endless blackness that had never seen light.

**~*~**

Vegeta coughed bright red blood as he pulled himself from the wreck; his car was a twisted hunk of metal. Goku's car looed minimally worse despite having rolled further then Vegeta's car had. The angel tried to stand but his leg wouldn't move and with a detachment and clarity he realised that a shard of twisted metal had speared his into the ground. Blood was flecked over the ground and even as he watched it was pooling around his leg.

He tore his gaze away from his leg as he heard a pained groan and watched as Goku dragged himself from his own car; a bloody wound carved down his chest. The devil stared accusingly at Vegeta, their identical onyx eyes clashing; "Bastard." Goku gasped. "You we're supposed to stop." He shook his head, as though trying to clear his eyes, and Vegeta realised Goku must have a _bad_ concussion.

"Yamcha." Vegeta managed to say before he coughed up more blood and wrapped his hand around the metal in his leg. "Yamcha made me keep driving." Vegeta closed his eyes and pulled at the metal with all of his strength. He swallowed a bellow of pain as the shard of metal pulled free, tearing his flesh as it did and spilling more of his angelic blood.

"Yamcha?" Goku looked confused for a moment. "Oh, the guy from the house. Taking orders from humans now?" Goku looked disgusted and for once Vegeta couldn't blame him. Since being sent to earth he had come to realise just how disgusting human beings could be; the amount of sin that lived in was sickening – he was surprised that God still had faith in humanity.

"He's Michael, the angel Michael." Vegeta clarified as he attempted to crawl away from the wreck of his car. Distantly heard Goku cackle as though he found the thought of Michael being sent to help capture him as ludicrous as Vegeta did.

"Michael.' He laughed harder. "How sad…" Goku laughed some more and then was silent as he started back in the car as though remembering something. "I think she's hurt…" He muttered vaguely as though talking to someone. There was movement form the back of the car and Eighteen crawled through one of the shattered windows with a bloodied Bulma in her arms.

 "_Trust me_, he said. _Vegeta will stop_, he said." Eighteen growled as she crawled, looking sullenly at Goku as though she detested him. "You could have killed us!" She ground out, her blue eyes icing over coldly.

"Sorry. His fault." Goku pointed to Yamcha who had been flung out of the car and was lying in a bloody heap in the middle of the road. Yamcha was lying in a pool of blood so wide that Vegeta knew he must be dead or seriously injured. Hopefully he would have the sense to allow his physical body to die so he could return to heaven. "Is Bulma alright?" Vegeta heard Goku ask, his voice devoid of everything except concern.

"She's alive, though a bit cut up." Eighteen gently set Bulma down on the ground and lay down next to her, curling up in a foetal position and hugging herself. Tremors racked her body and slowly Eighteen rolled onto her back to look at the sky. "I think I might go to sleep." She murmured vaguely, her voice burning with pain.

"Yeah." Goku agreed, his eyes becoming dull and fuzzy. Vegeta tried to force himself to stay awake too but he realised that his body was in shock and that sooner or later he'd be out for the count. "Sleep sounds like a good idea…" Goku started to close his eyes but forced them open again. He looked at Vegeta in alarm. "Wait. Can't sleep, forgot about you." He looked unfocusedly at Vegeta and dropped to one knee as his strength gave out.

"Don't worry," Vegeta coughed up more blood, and smiled at how he was missing his chance to rescue the girl and save the day then continued, "About me. I think I'm going to sleep too." 

Vegeta collapsed to the ground and was still. Goku dropped to the ground and gazed up at the blue sky for what seemed like a minute, but the next time he looked around he saw paramedics and humans crouching over Bulma and Eighteen and he realised he had been staring at the sky for a very long time.

Goku decided to sleep as well.

**~*~**


	11. The Healing

 DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

**~*~ Chapter 11 ~*~**

She was hanging suspended in a horrible thick liquid, fighting and struggling to swim her way to the surface of the glistening pool of darkness that she had sunken into…but it was so hard. There were _things_ in the darkness with her, their hands were caressing her gently, tugging on her clothes and trying to hold her down as she fought free of the suffocating evil that surrounded her.

_Eyes_.

There were two pairs of eyes floating in front of her, weaving steadily back and forth. Forgetting about her struggle to break free of the darkness Bulma hung still in the liquid as the eyes came closer and she was able to make out two figures entwined around one another. One pair of eyes, the glowing red eyes, belonged to a huge black serpent that was almost indistinguishable from the darkness, what it made it stand out from the pitch black liquid was the luminescent white skin the tiny baby which it was coiled around. The child had eyes as blue as a spring sky, eyes which Bulma had seen in the mirror a thousand times.

They were _her_ eyes…

**~*~**

Bulma jerked back into consciousness with a start, awaking to a gentle, rhythmic beeping sound - _a heart monitor_ she realised dimly. She felt strange, almost detached from her own body. With a grunt of effort Bulma managed to open her eyes a crack, but quickly closed them again, her breath escaping form her lungs in a painful hiss as the bright light stung her sensitive eyes like a thousand sharpened needles. Her body shivering with fear and shock her eyes fluttered open again, long lashes shielding her eyes from the stark fluorescent light hanging above her.

Everything was a blur – not just visually but psychologically. It was impossible to make out anything but vague shapes, as her eyes seemed to be refusing to focus properly. It was disorientating, and her muddled memories were only adding to her confusion. _What had happened?_ She could remember hearing the screeching of metal like a thousand screaming voices as the car had skidded along the road on its roof…she could remember the crash, the horrible flash of light behind her eyelids as the car had hit the ground with a thundering sound.

She could remember Eighteen dragging her out of the car, telling in a soft voice that it was going to be all right. There had been blood all over Eighteen and she could remember closing her eyes so as not to see the horrible red liquid. The next time she had forced her eyes open she could remember hearing loud sirens wailing close by. She'd been confused when she had opened her eyes to focus on a young man bent over her, a concerned expression on his face as he yelled _"This ones pregnant – lets get her moving!"  _She'd been confused because he shouldn't have been able to tell that she was pregnant…she had only been with Goku for a few days…

Then there had come more darkness, seeping across her vision like blood from a wound. She could remember seeing the same young man with her in the back of an ambulance telling her that everything was going to be okay, that she was safe…she had seen Vegeta next to her in the ambulance. The paramedics had been trying to stop his bleeding and stabilise him – he'd been so pale that Bulma had thought him to be dead, but she had seen and heard his heart monitor beeping erratically as his heart faltered but continued to beat.

That had been the last thing she had seen before she had fallen into the liquid darkness that filled her mind.

"Oh, you're awake!" A chirpy voice exclaimed nearby. Bulma closed her eyes and opened them again, trying to force them to focus but all she saw was a big white blur bustling dizzyingly around her. "How are you feeling, Sweetie?" The voice chirped again as the blur loomed over her, filling her entire vision.

"Fine. My baby?" Bulma whispered hoarsely, acutely aware of how weak she appeared, lying in the bed like an invalid as the heart monitor beeped – a constant reminder of how close she had come to being taken by Death.

"Your baby is fine." The blue soothed her, moving away and gently taking her hand to feel for a pulse. "You were _very_ lucky, most women in your condition wouldn't have been so lucky. You must have an angel looking after you" The white blur came to a halt near her head. "How are you feeling, Love? Nauseous at all?" 

"I can't see."

_An angel? Try two!_ Bulma thought as her mind slipped to Goku and Vegeta. Despite her discomfort and fear she could feel Goku's presence in her head like a steady pulse and oddly enough she could even sense Vegeta's presence tingling along her skin like electricity. He was alive and well – he and Goku both were. 

"The general anaesthetic can affect your eyesight – it will pass. You were in a lot of pain when you were brought in, we had to operate on you straight away and had no choice but to put you under general anaesthetic to operate - you were bleeding internally." The white blur reacher up and took her wrist again. "As I said, you were very lucky your baby wasn't injured in that awful crash."

"What about the others in the accident?" Bulma abruptly grasped the nurse's hand with surprising strength; afraid she would disappear with out telling her the truth. For even though she could still feel Goku, something felt wrong about his presence. It was as though something was shielding her from feeling what was wrong with him properly. "What happened? Are they okay?" Her voiced rose to a hysterical high and the nurse pulled away.

"I don't think you should worry about that right now dear…"

"_Please_!" Bulma begged. "Please tell me."

The nurse sighed as though the news was terrible. "The woman known as Eighteen Gero is in intensive care, she suffered horrific head injuries and while she is remaining stable at the moment we don't know how much internal head trauma she suffered." The nurse paused. "The man, Goku Son, has a severe concussion and a broken leg, collar bone, fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He's been slipping in and out of consciousness for the last two days." The nurse paused then, as though she was hoping that Bulma would forget that she had left someone out.

"_Two_ days…" Bulma gasped, her mind whirring shock at the amount of time she had been out for. "What about the other man?" She asked suddenly, zeroing in on the one person who the nurse had left out.

"The other man…Seventeen Gero. I'm afraid…" The blurred nursed sighed sadly and continued. "I'm afraid that he didn't make it.  The main impact of the crash took place directly in front of him and he was killed instantly." The nurse shook her head as Bulma let several tears slip out, her breath sobbing in her throat.

"What about the other car?" Bulma tried to stop the tears, tried to sound normal and in control. "What happened to them?"

Please let them be okay! Vegeta and Yamcha were her childhood friends, it didn't matter that they'd been lying to her their entire lives – she still loved them.

"You knew them?"

"_Knew them_?" Bulma repeated hysterically, choking on a sob. "Oh God, no…" The pain of losing friends welled up inside of Bulma like a giant wave, threatening to wash over her.

"No, Sweetheart! Calm down, its okay!" The nurse shushed her, stroking her face with cool fingers. "Vegeta has a compound fracture in his leg as well as severe flesh wounds. He was suffering from extreme blood loss, but he pulled through." The nurse made to walk away but once again Bulma stopped her.

"What about Yamcha?"

The nurse paused again and Bulma knew what was coming. "I'm afraid that your friend Yamcha is deceased. He was thrown from the vehicle and died from blood loss and internal trauma on the way to the hospital." The nurse went even quieter as Bulma began to hyperventilate, the loss of Yamcha slashing through her like a knife.  "I shouldn't be telling you this," The nurse continued, her voice dropping to a small whisper. "But you have a right to know. Your friend Yamcha's body went missing from the morgue last night." There was something in the nurse's voice that made Bulma tense up. "I've seen people survive some horrific crashes in my time, but what you and your friends survived…" The nurse paused. "You should have seen what was left of your cars. No one should have been able to walk away from that. _No one_." There was another pause. "I'm going to give you a sleeping sedative now to help you rest, no arguing please.

Bulma choked on a sob as the nurse stood up and began to fill a syringe with a clear liquid. Even if she had wanted to argue she didn't think she had the strength – everything just was so horrible and overwhelming. She felt a prick in the side of her thigh, and then a warm soothing feeling, which seemed to sink into her skin, enveloped her a moment later. All the pain and fear slowly sank back into the depths of her mind and Bulma slipped into a drugged and dreamless sleep.

**~*~**

Vegeta lay awake in his bed, his troubled ebony eyes focused blankly on the ceiling as he listened to the nurse explaining to Bulma what had happened. His stomach twisted as he heard of the death of Yamcha, but he soon calmed himself down as he remembered that Yamcha was immortal and has most likely escaped from the morgue and was healing himself. Eventually he heard the nurse inject Bulma with a sedative, he waited until she had left the room before he sat up in bed and pulled the aside curtain that separated his bed from Bulma's. His heart was beating like a jackhammer in his chest as he mulled over the unexpected news of Bulma's pregnancy.

Pregnant.

She was pregnant.

_His_ Bulma was pregnant.

He didn't want to believe it…but he had no choice – he'd heard it from Bulma's own lips when she'd voiced her concern for her baby. As Vegeta peered across at the slumbering Bulma he noticed that there was already a lump on Bulma's once flat stomach - the baby was growing fast. All demonically spawned children generally grew faster then normal, but even he had never seen anything like this. At the rate at which her child was growing it would be only a few days time before it would be born, and he couldn't let that happen. He owed to all of humanity to stop the evil that threatened the safety of heaven and earth alike.

Vegeta looked at his leg disdainfully. The wound had healed already, but the cast was cumbersome and would no doubt prove a nuisance if it wasn't removed. Shrugging, Vegeta reached down and with one hand he tore the cast free. For a moment his leg stung from the sheer force with which he had removed the cast but then as he stood up, wobbling a little as the blood flowed back into his leg, the pain faded to nothing.

Moving as quietly and lithely as a jungle predator, He sauntered over to Bulma's bed and peered down at her. She was fast asleep thanks to the sedative. She looked so angelic in her sleep, so peaceful. It was hard to imagine that she was the devils lover and theoretically just as evil as the devil himself. Vegeta gently traced her lips, then scooped her into his arms, pulled the drip out of her hand and turned away from the bed.

In his arms Bulma murmured softly, her lips moving wordlessly against his chest as she dreamed. Vegeta glanced down as he started walking out of the ward but paused when he came to the bed in which Goku lay. The devil lay there unconscious, his pale skin looking paler then usual against the white sheets. He looked so ill that for the briefest if moments Vegeta was tempted to put Bulma down and pull the plug on Goku – end his miserable existence before he could recover and once again hunt for Bulma - but he didn't. 

It wouldn't be honourable to kick Goku while he was down. Devil or not, Goku had been one of his closest friends while they were in heaven together. Killing him now while he was unable to fight back and defend himself was the cowardly thing to do. 

Besides, he could never kill his brother. 

Not even for his God.

**~*~**

Vegeta stopped the car outside of a hotel and got out. Grunting with the effort, he pulled Bulma into his arms and carried her into the building. Although he was fully healed, his strength was not yet back to it's full power and he was finding it hard to stay awake. His body was urging him to sleep again so he could recharge all of his powers but he had more important things to do then to sleep at this moment. He had to take care of Bulma and the _thing _inside of her.

"Goku?" She muttered, shifting in his arms as though frightened. "Goku where are you?" Her eyes strayed firmly shut but Vegeta had the distinct feeling that Bulma was not as unconscious as he had first thought. Physically she was out for the count but mentally he was picking up strange vibes from her that sent his own senses reeling. It was as though she was emanating with some strange power that he couldn't properly feel.

Vegeta felt his chest tighten as Bulma whimpered and murmured Goku's name again. How he longed to hear Bulma say _his_ name like that, with such longing and…love. The angel swallowed down his anger and walked towards the counter in the hotel lobby, where an old man sat smoking a cigar and reading a paper. He'd get a room and wait for the woman to wake up – then he'd decide what to do with their little problem.

"I need a room for about two weeks." Vegeta slapped money down on the counter and took the key that the old man offered with out even looking up.

"It's number Seven, Sonny. Don't you go messing it up." The old man rustled his newspaper as Vegeta left the room with a slight smile on his face. Seven was his lucky number. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps all that was happening now merely the foreshadowing of the horrible events that had been prophesised by Goku all those years ago. It was neither a pleasant nor welcome thought, but Vegeta couldn't help but wonder if perhaps all his efforts were in vain and it was true that nothing could forestall the apocalypse. 

"Goku?" Bulma muttered fervently in his arms, clearly trouble by some vision in her sleep. Vegeta held Bulma close to his chest and drew in her scent, feeling tears well up as she tried to pull away and cried for Goku again. Dejectedly, he opened the door to their room, kicked it shut behind him and carried Bulma over to the bed. Gently he set her down and ran his fingers through her hair, his eyes feasting on her every feature.

"It's okay, Bulma." He soothed her. "I'm going to help you." Vegeta gently ran his fingers over the stitches that marked where the doctors had operated on her; saving her life and the life of the _thing_ inside of her. "Now this might hurt a little," He spoke to her as though she were awake and could hear his every word. "But it will heal you." Bulma's eyelids flickered as though she was seeing something in her sleep. Vegeta took a deep breath; it had been a long time since he'd used his ability to heal people. Carefully, fearful of causing Bulma pain, he snapped her stitches one by one and re opened the horrid wound. Being careful not to cause Bulma too much discomfort he ran his finger along the lips of the wound, flinching when Bulma whimpered fretfully in pain.

"Shhhh." He soothed hee once more. Vegeta bent down and ran his tongue along the mouth of the wound, under his tongue he could feel the skin melding together as though by magic. Pulling awake he licked his lips before returning his mouth to her wound – all it took was his saliva to knit her skin together. Vegeta drew away and admired his handiwork; the skin was smooth and flawless once again. He jumped when he saw her stomach move ever so slightly from the babies kicking inside of her. 

Vegeta shook his head as he pulled her gown down again. It was still hard for him to believe that in only four days the demon spawn inside of her had matured enough to look as if Bulma were at least seven months pregnant. It was horrid to think of what the _thing_ inside of her might be doing to Bulma. Perhaps it was influencing her with it's evil - polluting her blood. It didn't really matter though, soon he would put an end to all of this and Goku would once again be forced to wait until Bulma's next life to impregnate her.

Soon.

**~*~**

**A/N – Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I was kinda busy this week with a whole host of things – but that isn't really a good excuse. All I can say is that this week this fic took priority over all f the others! Anyhow, let me know what you think of this chapter and any thoughts you might have on Bulma's child and how it might be affecting her would be good. I'm interested in knowing where you think I'm going with this whole 'demon child' thing.**


	12. The Awakening

            DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

****

**~*~ Chapter 12 ~*~**

There was something watching her from the shadows. Something with chilling blue eyes and a gaze that cut right through her as she tried to shield herself from their penetrating gaze. There was something wrong with those eyes. Something evil. Bulma took a step backwards and realised that she was wearing a long flowing ball gown, the tight corset and steel frame under the skirt reminiscent of something that would have been worn in the 17th century.

Only she had never lived in the 17th century, so how would she know what it was like to wear those clothes?

Bulma gasped as the blue eyes gleamed wetly from the shadows, watching her with morbid fascination. It took all of her effort to tear her gaze away from the horrid thing, but eventually she managed. She knew that the creature that was watching her so intently couldn't hurt her while there was light around her. It didn't just thrive on darkness, it _was_ the darkness and light was not its friend. It was a primal evil so ancient that it made the human race look young.

Bulma raised her eyes heavenward; watching as silver and grey clouds whipped and swirled in a lavender sky overhead. The landscape around her was gloomy, not just visually but mentally. The ground was a tangle of black rocks and blue-grey soil, nothing save for twisted silver tree's grew out of the ground – and even the trees were dead. Their skeletal branches reaching towards the sky like twisted arms pleading with someone to save them.

There was little colour in the strange world she had stumbled upon in her head. Black, grey, blue and purple were the dominant colours and even they seemed dulled and shadowed, as though the world itself was old and faded. The sun that sat in the sky above gleamed a dull blue; it seemed closer to the land then the sun on Earth did – although Bulma didn't feel the least bit hot.

On the contrary, she was bitterly cold.

A murder of ravens burst from the sky, wheeling and cawing as they flew over Bulma in a twisted fluttering tangle, wheeling around they flew over her again, cawing louder, more excitedly, as though they had found something of interest. Bulma stumbled back a step and threw up one arm to shield her eyes as one zealous bird dove too close to her.

From the shadows a faint hissing noise tumbled forth and the ravens abruptly fled, their caws of excitement turning to fear as they left just as quickly as they had come. Slowly, oh so slowly, Bulma turned and looked into the darkness at a par of iridescent blue eyes. They seemed amused by her antics with the birds, but the evil was still strong in them, bubbling in the heated gaze like lava.

"Who are you?" Bulma whispered, her voice floating disjointedly back to her in echoes. The eyes blinked and suddenly a form began to materialise with them, it was as if the darkness was folding in on itself, solidifying into a creature of pure malice. The darkness slipped back into itself and a shadow with piercing blue eyes stared back at her. It was her height…perhaps a little larger, but not much else was discernable about it, save that it appeared human. 

The creature made a hissing noise and Bulma felt the air turn icy around her. It was male. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew that it was definitely male. The thing smiled and Bulma caught a glimpse of row after row of razer sharp fangs before it closed its mouth again. It took a step forward and Bulma suddenly knew what it was that she was looking at. It had been so obvious that she was stunned she hadn't worked it out before now.

It was her son.

**~*~**

Bulma awoke in a dizzying spin, her eyes snapping open and focusing on yet another unfamiliar ceiling. A fan was spinning above her, the blade making loud swishing noises with every turn. She twisted her head to one side and winced, pain lanced through her body – apparently moving wasn't a good idea.

But where was she?

"Where am I?" Bulma whispered aloud, surprised to find that she wasn't in the hospital - she wasn't anywhere she could recognise, but she could sure as hell recognise the man sitting beside her. Bulma turned her head more slowly this time, and met the angel's obsidian eyes with apprehension, somehow not in the least surprised to find herself alone with him. There was something in the depths of his eyes that made Bulma want to both cry and smile, a kind of infinite sadness that tore her heart in two.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice a harsh unwelcome whisper in the silence of the room.

"I took you from the hospital. I had to get you out before _Goku_ woke up." Vegeta moved from the old wooden chair he had been perched upon and took a seat on the edge of the bed, the springs creaked as his full weight hit the mattress and the sound made Bulma wince. Vegeta took Bulma's hand, as though expecting her to believe he had done something that she should have been relieved about. "Don't worry." He added softly, running a hand through her hair; "You're safe now."

Bulma nodded stiltedly and caught sight of her swollen belly. Her breath caught in her throat and she struggled to remain conscious as a rushing sound filled her ears. She reached out a hand and touched her stomach, sobbing as the baby inside kicked solidly. She should have been happy to see some sign that her child was still alive in her, but for some reason the sight filled her with horror.

 "How long was I unconscious?" Bulma gasped distraughtly as tears leaked unnoticed from her eyes. 

_There was something so wrong with her…she could feel that the baby inside of her wasn't normal._

"Not long." Vegeta's eyes slid from Bulma's face to her huge abdomen. "Demon spawn tend to grow quicker then humans." He looked at her stomach a while longer in distaste. He felt revulsion, fear and anger at the creature growing inside of her – repulsed that the Antichrist was so near to being born, frightened at what could happen if he didn't act soon and angry that Bulma had given into Goku. 

 "Don't worry, Bulma." He added. "When _it's_ born I'll get rid of _it._" He met Bulma's eyes again, trying to see some sign of repentance in her eyes for what she had done.

He found none.

"I beg your pardon?" Bulma fought her way into a sitting position despite her reeling head, the pain taking a backseat to the anger that coursed through her at the thought of anyone harming her baby. Her child hadn't done anything yet! Vegeta was judging it based on who its father was! It wasn't fair!

"_It_ has to die…" Vegeta tried again to make Bulma understand, but it was useless.

"_It_?" Bulma ranted louder, her eyes rolling wildly. "You're calling my baby an _It_? And what do you mean you'll get rid of it? I'm keeping this child!" It was as though Bulma was possessed. She lashed out angrily at Vegeta and her nails that were usually so trim and neat managed to slice through his shirt material and effortlessly rip through the skin underneath.

"Bulma, stop it!" Vegeta shielded himself with one arm and used the other to pin her against the bed. He caught sight of her face; it was contorted with rage and he felt a shiver slide down his spine. The demonic creature he held in his arms couldn't possibly be _his_ Bulma, could it…?

"Let me go!" She shrieked, arching her back and desperately trying to work her way free without success. Her huge stomach made escape from Vegeta's grasp impossible. She could feel heat pooling in her stomach, a burning anger that she knew emanated from the child inside of her. The anger was like poison, it spread through her veins, encouraging her to fight all the more. She widened her eyes, the pupils shrinking to inhuman slits as she changed tactics and pulled Vegeta down to her, opening her mouth and biting down hard on his shoulder, her teeth tearing through flesh with ease.

Vegeta cursed and pulled away, a small chunk of his skin staying in Bulma's tightly closed mouth as he fought free of her. He caught sight of her eyes and his breath caught in his throat. The Lord had warned him that the child would be able to fight through the mother, but he hadn't been prepared for Bulma to attack him with a calculated viciousness like this. He just had to remember that it wasn't Bulma who was attacking him; it was the thing inside of her that was making her act this way. He had to try to get through to her…

"It had to die! Don't you understand that if we don't kill it then we're all going to die?" Vegeta yelled angrily as he threw Bulma against the head of the bed. As he threw her, the small silver cross he wore on a chain around his neck slipped free and it flared to life, glowing with a brilliant blue light. Bulma screeched and cowered against the wall, her entire body shaking as she convulsed, hissing and cursing with rage until finally she lay still and the cross's light died away. An eerie silence descended upon the room, not even the sound of the traffic outside penetrated their small world.

"Bulma?" Vegeta asked quietly, reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Bulma shrieked, terror lancing her voice. She curled into a ball and began to sob, jerking her shoulder away when she felt Vegeta touch her all the same. "How do you know?" She asked tearfully. "How do you know what my baby will do?" She opened eyes that gleamed wetly and dragged herself into a sitting position, pressing her back tightly against the wall, staying as far from the angel as she could possibly get.

"The scripture says that the Antichrist will kill us…" Vegeta heard Bulma scoff and his mouth tightened. "Look, I don't want to hurt it, I don't want to hurt anyone. But I have no choice Bulma, I'm sorry." He took one of Bulma's trembling hands and held onto it gently, soothing her with his presence as much as he was able. "I don't know how much Goku remembered, how much he told you…"

"He told me that in a past life you killed me!" Bulma snapped abruptly, snatching her hand away as though his touch had burnt her.

"That was an unavoidable complication." Vegeta was surprised that Goku had told her that, he was surprised that the demon Lord had remembered that incident. He shook his head softly, determined to say what he wanted to say nevertheless. "Please hush, Goku has forgotten what _really_ happened all those years ago, so now I'm going to tell you who I am and who Goku really is." Vegeta's eyes turned distant and he began to speak. 

"Goku and I were both arch angels, brothers by religion as it happens although not brothers by blood. We both fell in love with you, something which was unheard for angels until then. Goku as it ended up managed to win you love, he'd always been a charmer with the ladies but with you it was different. I'd never seen him so obsessed with anyone as he was with you. He should have been content to win your love, content hat God didn't punish him for having relations with you, but Goku grew bitter all the same with the Lord.

 "He hated the Lord for giving the earth to the humans and not to the angels. He and many other angelic beings were under the impression that we were Gods favourite creation, so when the Lord gave the Earth to the humans it caused more trouble then anyone expected. Goku opposed God with his army of disgruntled angels and the battle that ensured was terrible and bloody. The Lords army was only just able to defeat Goku. God banished him to Hell for his crimes, sentencing him to eternal agony…but _you_…_you_ were kept in heaven. Years passed and Goku grew stronger in Hell…and always he sought a way to be free of his underworld. It was not long before it was prophesied by the Lord that a child born from an angel and a devil would bring about the destruction of heaven. The Lord knew in his infinite wisdom that the child in his vision was not just any child. It was a child born of Satan and of you. 

"To try to forestall the end of heaven God sent you to Earth. He could never have known how easily Goku would seduce the humans to his side, it was no wonder he was soon able to wander the Earth in borrowed bodies. When the Lord did discover Goku's new power over the humans, I was sent to Earth to protect you form Goku…and I've lost count of how many times Goku has managed to almost get a child from you, but it would have to be millions of times by now."

Vegeta ran a hand through his hair; the weight of his task hadn't seemed so heavy all those years ago. These days he was tired. Tired of running and fighting, of death and destruction. He supposed being on Earth made heaven look all the better…but he was so tired of being here. He looked again at the blue haired fallen angel who sat on the bed, distrustfully hugging herself.

"Wow." Bulma murmured, her eyes distant. "Goku didn't tell me that exactly." She glanced down, her eyes still unreadable.

"He wouldn't have, he sees things in a different light. Who knows how he remembers things." Vegeta looked at Bulma carefully, noting how flushed and ill she seemed. "This is the first time Goku has actually managed to get you pregnant…and I…I don't know what that means." He heard the choke in his own voice and cursed inwardly, he couldn't allow his human emotions to overcome his common sense. Bulma was tainted because of the child inside of her – he _had_ to get rid of it.

"It means that maybe you should trust me to raise this child in a good way." Bulma interrupted his train of thoughts in a soft voice. She looked up with huge blue eyes that sparkled with innocence. "I'm not evil Vegeta, and as hard as it might be for you to comprehend I don't think that Goku is all that evil either." She paused and looked thoughtful. "He's more misled then anything." She sighed and glanced sadly at her stomach. "You _can't_ hurt my baby Vegeta, it hasn't done anything yet."

Vegeta stood up, torn by the pleading in Bulma's voice but determined to stay strong. He knew it would cost him his friendship with Bulma but he had to do what he had been put on the earth to do. "It doesn't matter that the child was born innocent - it has to be done. I'm sorry." With that Vegeta walked out of the room, Bulma turned sadly to look out the window at the clear blue sky, her voice a mere whisper as she said the one thing that she still believed in…

"_Goku_…" 

**~*~**

"Goku…" 

Goku's eyes opened suddenly, black spreading rapidly through them as his demon strength kicked in and his body was forced to heal more rapidly then it should have. He could still hear an echo of the cry that had awoken him – it was Bulma. She was in trouble and he could feel her distress from where he lay. Her thoughts were a jangling, jumbled mess and she was in agony. She was confused and her own fear was flashing through his mind like a phantom pain.

Growling, Goku stood up, his wounds now healed, and stalked towards the ward door, a variety of tubes and monitors ripping from his chest and arms as he strode away unheedful of the noise and mess he was causing. He snarled and ripped the drip from his arm, hissing as drop of his blood splashed onto the tiles and began to eat its way into the floor. A nurse came running into the room, summoned by the loud continuous wail that the heart monitor was sending out.

"Sir…" The nurse came to a halt as she took in the site of Goku striding towards her, his demonic form now completely in place. He hissed at the nurse and spread his leathery wings, lunging at the woman before she could scream. Hospital beds were flung aside by the sheer span of his wings and trays and implements fell to the floor in a catastrophe of sound. The woman screamed shrilly as Goku's mouth fastened onto her neck, her wailing cry cut short in a gargling sound as he tore her throat out effortless, drinking the blood which gushed from the wound in powerful spurts. He hurled the nurse across the room in an arch of blood, ginning fiendishly as he heard her body slam into the wall and slide wetly to the floor.

He set off walking again, his demonic form receding after the increase in power that drinking the woman's life had brought him. As he left the scene of his ghoulish slaughter, his hospital gown disappeared and his clothes reappeared, seeming to grow from his skin until he was encased in a black suit with a black shirt. The blood that caked his face was absorbed into his skin and he stormed from the hospital looking like just any other well-dressed middleclass male. The only person who took any notice of him was a small girl who had been sitting in the lobby.

Goku growled at the small child as he felt her stare burn into his back. _Another Christian child! _ He thought maliciously, the thought of ripping the tiny girl limb from limb slipping through his mind. Goku hated humans more then he hated the angels. They were all scum, all except for his Bulma; she was too good for the lot of them. It was the thought of Bulma that made Goku keep walking and prevented him from murdering the girl child.

He smashed in the window of the first car he came to, unlocked the door and slid into it. With deft, determined hands he hotwired the car and spend off, following the scent of his lovers distress. Vegeta would pay for stealing away the vessel that would bear him a son. Oh yes, Vegeta would pay, for now was the time to summon Prosperine to his side and if there was one demon who scared Vegeta it was her.

After all, Prosperine was the destroyer of men and angels alike. 

**~*~**

**            A/N – Any comments, queries or complaints can be given in the review. If you'd like to join my mailing list then by all means email me at vegeta_goddess@hotmail.com and I shall add you!**


	13. The Storm

 Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, however this plot and all subsequent original characters are my property and may not be used by other people without my consent (sorry it came to this but badly written knock-off's off this fic are starting to spring up.)

**Author Note: Wow…this fic has got quite a following now, I mean the first time I wrote this fic people liked it, but this time around people seem to be really getting into the spirit of things. Thanks to everyone who has emailed me about this fic and to everyone who has offered up ideas. Originally this would have been the final chapter for this fic, however in this version the fic has been extended and the end is currently nowhere in sight!**

**Lyrics are from 'Eye' by the Smashing Pumpkins.******

**~*~**

**I lie, I wait**

**I stop, I hesitate**

**~*~**

Vegeta ran a hand through his sweat drenched hair, groaning in the back of his throat as outside thunder crashed and the room was briefly illuminated by more then the dingy low watt bulb that flickered weakly overhead. The hotel room was hot, humid and oppressive. The storm outside was heating things up rather then cooling them down, the dense storm clouds acting as a blanket over the town, trapping the heat inside. It was horrible. Vegeta couldn't remember a night that had been this uncomfortable – it was truly an ominous sign. Obviously the child inside of Bulma was having an effect on the tangible world, there was no other explanation for the weather which wad changed so suddenly and become so unfriendly.

The angel collapsed onto one of the rickety wooden chairs beside the bed and watched as Bulma tossed in her sleep, her legs tangled up in the bed sheets. She tossed her head from side to side, clearly having a bad dream as she whimpered and jerked in her slumber. Abruptly her eyes snapped opened and she stared sightlessly ahead, her mouth moving as she whispered something under her breath over and over again.

"Bulma?" Vegeta leant forward and placed a concerned hand on her forehead; Bulma's skin was calmly and slick with sweat. "Bulma? Are you okay?" He repeated himself, hoping for a response.

The blue haired female didn't answer him; instead she pinched her lips together tightly and stayed quiet, her eyes widening with what could only be fear. Vegeta leaned closer still and watched her face, coming to the conclusion that Bulma was still asleep, possibly dreaming. She blinked rapidly and her eyes followed something that he couldn't see, something that evidently terrified her as she jerked again in her sleep and let out a small shriek as she suddenly scrambled back against the bed head.

"It's okay, Bulma." Vegeta put a calming hand on her shoulder and eased the human back into he bed, tucking her securely as she seemed to slip back into a deep sleep once more. The angel shook his head, wondering what could possibly frighten Bulma so much…

**~*~**

**I am, I breathe**

**I meant, I think of me**

**~*~**

Bulma could see the hotel room around her, but it was faded and distant and didn't seem to have any real substance to it. She could see the storm raging through the roof above them; she could see the car park through the door beside the bed. It was as though the room was made of see through plastic. The sky above was lit up from time to time with a greenish hue as lighting flashed in the inner regions of the turbulent clouds, the lightning also lit up the parking lot outside and in the occasionally cast light she could see something in the parking lot coming closer.

She didn't want to see that thing melting from shadow to shadow, nor did she want to see it getting closer and closer. Under her breath Bulma began to pray, something that was probably useless since she was fairly certain that God had long ago turned a deaf ear to her suffering. Nevertheless, she continued to murmur the Lord's Prayer under her breath, repeating it twice before she opened her eyes again, hoping the thing had hone away.

A bolt of twisted lightning lit up the car park again, and Bulma whimpered as she saw that the creature was still outside. It appeared to be hissing at her through the wall of the building, but it was still coming closer despite the pain that the Lord's Prayer has caused it. Bulma looked at it closely as it approached the building. The creature was thin and stick-like, it's limbs seemed elongated and it's fingers claw like. It scuttled through the parking lot, dodging cars and making it's way to their door. In another brilliant flash of light she saw that its skin was the colour of rotted fruit and as is came closer still and stretched to it's full height outside of their door it fixed copper coloured eyes on Bulma's face and opened it's mouth in a lecherous leering grin.

Bulma shrieked and turned her face away from the horrid thing that was lurking outside of their door. She hugged herself in protective gesture and caught site of her stomach, only just managing to swallow another scream as she saw that her stomach was also transparent and she could see what was inside of it. For the longest of moments she simply stared at the abomination inside of her…then it moved…and Bulma saw something that terrified her…

**~*~**

**Is it any wonder I can't sleep?**

**All I have is all you gave to me**

**~*~**

Bulma screamed over and over as she woke up and screamed even louder when she collided with a dark shape looming over her. She clawed at the thing above her and heard it curse and jerk away, whimpering she curled into a ball and pulled one of the twisted sheets up to her chin. Shivering with something other then cold she closed her eyes tight and waited for the demon to come and claim her, it was coming for her baby…she knew it now.

"Bloody Hell, Bulma! That hurt!" 

Bulma's startled eyes flew open and she stared at Vegeta who was clasping his upper arm. He was standing across the room, staring at her with pained eyes as he continued to curse under his breath. Outside the storm raged loudly and the dim bulb overheard flickered dangerously.

"What did you dream that worked you up so much, huh?" He demanded, blood beginning to seep through his fingers. He took his hand away and Bulma saw the deep slashes in his skin that she'd done with her fingers in her panicked state. She stared down at her fingers and was shocked to see that they were longer then normal and pointed at the tip, stained pink from Vegeta's blood and with tiny bits of skin trapped under the nails. Swallowing convulsively Bulma staggered to her feet and lunged for the bathroom to be sick.

When she emerged, her hands washed clean and her nails no longer stained, she was trembling slightly. Vegeta was seated on a corner of the bed, watching her with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't…didn't mean to hurt you…" Bulma started to say, but Vegeta held up a hand and silenced her.

"I know. I'm sorry I got angry, it just surprised me that you got so violent." His dark eyes followed her as she crossed the room and sat down on the bed. "I take it you're feeling better?" He allowed a tone of concern to enter his voice.

Bulma glanced up at him then looked quickly away. "I had a bad dream…there was something in the parking lot that was stalking us. It was coming closer and closer and I knew it was going to do something awful." She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, her arms barely able to make it around her huge stomach. She looked up at Vegeta, her eyes watering. "What are you going to do to me?"

**~*~**

**Is it any wonder I found peace through you?**

**Turn to the gates of heaven, to myself be damned**

**~*~**

"Nothing. I'm not going to do anything to you." Vegeta closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing his hand over his eyes as though something that only he could see was troubling him. "I've told you already that I can't let your child live, however I'm going to make sure that no harm comes to you." He put a gentle hand on Bulma's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Bulma glanced down o hide the intense ager that she could feel filling her eyes. How dare Vegeta take it upon himself to kill her child? How did he know that the child was going to be evil? Given the right upbringing and shown enough love her baby might grow into someone good and kind-hearted…only a monster would kill a newborn child because it might become evil. Bulma clenched her teeth as a burning flame of hate for the man sitting beside her grew inside of her. She'd never felt this intense hatred for anyone before, but the thought of someone slaughtering her child aroused something primal and protective inside of her. Instinctively Bulma knew that she would do everything inside of her to protect her child.

Abruptly the light above them went out and the room was plunged into darkness, the only illumination coming from the occasionally flashes of thunder. Bulma swallowed as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end a prickling sensation ran down her back. The baby shifted inside of her and she let out a gasp as an image shot through her mind – a vision of their room from outside. Someone – something – was coming towards the hotel room and momentarily she had been able to see through their eyes. Wether it was the baby within her or some dormant power that she had always possessed Bulma didn't know, all she knew for certain was that whoever was coming towards them wasn't friendly.

The baby shifted again and Bulma gasped as the vision washed over her again; she was standing out in the rain, her black stringy hair was wringing wet, her thin clothes were stuck to her body…but it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting to the people inside of the room, getting to the power that she could feel emanating from within. Lightning flashed and she hissed, cowering behind a raised, talon-like hand as the light blinded her…

**~*~**

**Turn away from light**

**It's not enough, just a touch**

**It's not enough**

**~*~**

"Bulma!" Vegeta shook her by her shoulders and Bulma was thrown back into her own body again. Through the darkness Bulma could feel that something wasn't right, even Vegeta had picked up on the un-earthly energy that was humming in the air. He kept an arm around her as something passed by the window by the door to their room. A low hissing laugh sounded through the air around them and Bulma whimpered as the child moved in her belly, kicking out painfully as though it could sense whatever was drawing nearer.

"We have to go…" She clutched Vegeta's shirt, bunching the material in her hands and dragging him with her as she began backing away from their door. "We have to go before she gets in…"

"Who?" Vegeta put an arm around her, not fighting to pull away as he backed towards the bathroom with Bulma, his angelic senses finally telling him that something very, very bad was coming. "Bulma? Who's coming?" Urgency filled his voice as something hit their door and the window rattled with the force of the blow. 

"I don't know! I don't…" Bulma's breath was ripped from her throat as she felt the child within her seize control of her as it had done before, she froze, not bothering to back away as her eyes filled with fire and her entire demeanour changed. Bulma turned and looked at Vegeta, her lip curled into a snarl of distaste as her son recognised him as an angel. When he spoke, his voice showed not only his distaste, but also his contempt for the angel before him.

 "She is Rimmon, the demoness of storms and lightning." The child smiled disdainfully at Vegeta as the angel abruptly stepped away from Bulma as though she had burnt him. "She was called forth by my growing power and summoned this storm as proof of her loyalty to me. When she catches you, angel filth, she will render you limb from limb and witness my entry into the world…"

Bulma, frozen within her soul, struggled in her sons grasp to throw him out of her mind. He was powerful, so powerful it made everything else seem weak and pointless, but finally with a mental scream she wrenched free of him and surfaced in her mind, forcing him out of her head and back into her womb. Bulma sobbed as her body sagged and Vegeta caught her, the red light leaving her eyes and the snarl bleeding off her face.

"Bulma…?" Vegeta looked into the depths of her eyes, searching for a sign that Bulma had returned to normal. Finding some glimmer of light he lifted her into his arms despite her great weight and carried her into the bathroom, closing the internal door just as the room door burst open with a howl of wind and the think rotted demon slunk through the door, crackling with electricity…

**~*~**

**I taste, I love**

**I come, I bleed enough**

**I hate, I'm not**

**I was, I want too much**

**~*~**

Goku opened his eyes, a crooked smile on his lips as he watched Vegeta flee before Rimmon through her eyes. The Archangel may have been a strong opponent but he faced a demoness who controlled the elements; escape would be impossible for the angel now. Beside him in the confines of the car sat a small girl child, her brown hair in two pigtails, her eyes a beautiful blue colour. However, despite her child-like appearance, she watched Goku with a look that was not childish in the least.

"Will Rimmon really kill him, Lord?" The child pouted heavily at the thought, her blue eyes darkening with displeasure at the thought. Her tiny arms crossed across her chest and she frowned fiercely when Goku did not immediately answer her. "Will she kill the angel?" The child frowned even harder, energy crackling around her.

"No, Proserpine." Goku smiled at the little girl fondly. "Rimmon is only there to make sure Vegeta doesn't go anywhere before we get there."

Proserpine merely nodded, her serpentine blue eyes glowing from the streetlights reflected glare. Goku looked back at the road that stretched ahead of them, smiling slightly as he felt his sons growing power even from this distance. It was good to have a demon of Proserpine's power on his side at this crucial hour, although it was a little down heartening that her current body was that of a small child. Her last possession had been that of a tall lanky blonde whose name Goku could no longer remember. He remembered Proserpine telling him that the woman had offered up her body in order to stay young until her death, of the course the foolish blonde hadn't counted on Proserpine getting her body killed. But as the demoness had pointed out at the time – she had kept the woman young for the short amount of time that she'd possessed her.

Humans were so stupid sometimes.

"I can't wait to taste that angels flesh." The little girl wriggled impatiently in her seat, flashing a smile that sent shivers up even Goku's spine. "It's been a very long time since I had a decent meal, and humans taste so boring after a while." She played with hr hair absent mindedly, smiling faintly as she remembered something of amusement.

Goku raised an eyebrow and left the odd demon to her memories. Proserpine was a strange woman to be sure; the reason for her love of death and destruction was a mystery to even Goku. All he knew was that the moment the war in Heaven had begun she had been their fighting, sometimes on God's side and sometimes on his, she didn't seem to care who she was fighting as long as she was destroying things. In a way it was almost fitting for her to be in a child's body – her blinds rages were similar to the mindless tantrums thrown by human children.

"How long until we get there?" She impatiently turned to Goku, the demon light in her eyes flickering to life as she sensed even more clearly the coming violence.

"Soon." Goku hit his indicator and turned off the freeway onto one of the smaller side roads. Somewhere up ahead was the motel where Vegeta had foolishly booked a room, clearly the man was too stupid or too blindly ignorant to realise that leaving the country would have been his hest bet for getting Bulma away. Still, Bulma's presence in his head was worrying – she still stank of pain and fear, the two feelings inseparable in her mind. However once he was back by her side he knew she would feel reassured again. It couldn't be helping her state of mind to have Vegeta raving about how evil their unborn child was.

**~*~**

**Is it any wonder I can't sleep?**

**All I have is all you gave to me**

**~*~**

Bulma was curled against Vegeta's chest, whimpering softly and muttering things to herself every now and again. It wasn't so much the demon that was pacing outside of the bathroom door growling viciously that was scaring her; it was the fright her child had given her when it had seized control of her body. Her child hadn't given a thought to what taking control of her might have done to her – it had simply acted upon a desire to frighten Vegeta. She wanted Goku so badly! He would hold her and tell her that everything was going to be all right…maybe he could even calm the baby down.

"We're going to be okay, you know." Vegeta ran a hand through Bulma's hair, his chest tightening when she flinched away from him. The sounds of the demoness Rimmon rampaging about the room were terrifying enough, but it was something more then terrifying to have Bulma pull away from him like that – as though he were the evil one. He swallowed convulsively as memories came rushing forth, memories from this life and from others – all of them happy memories of time he'd spent with Bulma.

"Do you remember the time when Marron spilt coffee on me before our big date?" Vegeta spoke hesitantly, not sure if Bulma would respond to him. However she looked up, her big blue eyes watching him emotionlessly. "Do you remember how frantic I was? Our first big date and your ditzy blonde house mate tripped and scalded me with coffee."

To his surprised Bulma smiled and a small sound of amusement came forth from her. "You couldn't have sex for a week afterwards because of the damage done to…little Vegeta." She smiled cheekily and lent back against the side of the tub. "We had fun together didn't we? Even after we broke up we were still good friends." Her voice was soft and her eyes were filled with a hundred laughing memories.

"Yeah…we had fun alright." Vegeta watched her for a moment longer. "I'd never do anything to hurt you. You're my best friend…God…you're more then my best friend. If things had been different you might have been with me in this life time instead of with Goku." He looked down; regret tightening his chest painfully as he inadvertently remembered the lifetime that he had spent with Bulma as his wife. She was so beautiful, inside and out. Someone like Bulma didn't deserve to have to go through something like this, she didn't deserve to have to choose between good and evil.

**~*~**

**Is it any wonder I found peace through you?**

**Turn to the gates of heaven, to myself be damned**

**~*~**

Bulma watched Vegeta, reading his thoughts as they crossed his face. She loved Vegeta…but it a love that dimmed in the light of what she felt for Goku. Being with Goku felt like coming home. He was the reason that she used to wake up crying at night, feeling alone and depressed. Nothing Vegeta could say or do would convince her that a life without Goku was a better life; after all she'd lived life with Goku and without Goku and she knew which life had made her happier. No matter how tough it was to face her destiny, she would do it; she'd face her demons and her past if it meant she could stay with Goku.

He was everything to her. She loved him so much it made her want to cry…it was…it was unexplainable how he made her feel. His eyes, his body, and the way he held he; it all felt right. How could it be wrong to love someone like that? How could God have been punishing her for such a long time simply for loving someone? Love wasn't an evil thing, love was glorious…love was beautiful. She just wanted to be with Goku again, no matter what the cost.

Vegeta was still stroking her hair, watching her with eyes that were sad - as though he knew what she was thinking, what she was feeling. He hugged her gently, closing his eyes and breathing in her scent. 

"God punished you because you loved Goku more then you loved him." His voice was emotionless, blank. "Angels are made to feel love…but the love you felt for Goku went beyond that the Lord had intended." Regret tightened Vegeta's chest; regret that Bulma had chosen to walk a path that was forbidden to angels. He had always loved her – loved the deep blue of her eyes, the softness of her hair, the scent of her skin, but he knew deep down that he would never love Bulma more then he loved his father.

The Archangel hugged Bulma tighter, a suspicious prickling behind his eyes as he finally realised just how damned Bulma was. When the bathroom door finally burst open minutes later and Goku was framed in the doorway it didn't come to a surprise to Vegeta. The demon and Bulma were connected; they were linked together by something that was unbreakable. Not even the Lord in all his infinite power had been able to stop their love.

"Well, well." Goku surveyed them with blood red eyes. "Isn't this cosy?"

**~*~**

**Turn away from light**

**It's not enough, just a touch**

**~*~**

**A/N – Hope this chapter was enjoyable. I found it hard to write…but that was only because I wanted to make it perfect and perfection is not one of my talents or qualities! Thanks for reading and if you feel like it, you can throw me a review letting me know what you think!**


	14. The Temptation

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, however this plot and all subsequent original characters are my property and may not be used by other people without my consent (sorry it came to this but badly written knock-off's off this fic are starting to spring up.)

**Author Note: Screams I'm sorry this is late but I have practically not time to write! It is ****1.06 am**** and even now I should be studying! I'm moving house, working more hours at work and trying to write two uni assignments….sorry about how long this took but this is the soonest I could write it! **

**Additional note: I moved house and haven't had the Internet for a good month! Sorry for the long wait before updates and for the pitifully short chapter!**

****

            To Goku, life was a joke. The kind of joke that no one, except perhaps the joker themselves, seems to find remotely funny or even understand. No matter how many times Goku saw the joke of life being played out he still didn't understand it. To him, life was incomprehensible. Human life had no purpose. They scuttled about their empty little lives on pointless little errands, and for what? What they hell did people think they were getting at the end of it all? Why did they even bother living?

            Goku Morningstar frowned as, briefly, a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated him and interrupted his troubling line of thought. He bared his teeth and stepped over the threshold of the bathroom; the soles of his shoes crunching loudly on the tiny fragments of plaster that had been ripped from the walls when he had burst through the door. He suppressed the deep rumbling growl that had been on the verge of spilling from his throat, for the flash of lightning had shown him Vegeta and Bulma crouched together in an embrace of sorts.

            Jealousy, like scalding water, burnt inside of him. A slow, bubbling, resentment of the companionship they shared. They had seemed frightened, their wide frightened eyes looking like some sick parody to an image he had in his mind of them in a different life together; a life where Vegeta had won Bulma's affections from him.

            Against his will, Goku felt himself beginning to shift into his true form. He could feel black blooming in his eyes, spreading like the jealous fire inside of him. His skin itched and prickled as he fought to stop the change before his tail could burst from his tailbone and before his flesh could change to that blood red shade.

"Well, well. Isn't this cosy?" Bitterness dripped from his voice, staining the air with its putrid smell. Beneath his skin the demon rolled and slashed with it's claws, desperate to burst free and tear the angel into little tiny pieces for venturing this close to _his_ woman.

"Goku!" Bulma's voice halted him in his tracks and held the bitterness in check as he read the relief in her voice. Although his body was practically singing with tension he relaxed slightly when he sought and met her eyes and read the utter need for him in them. He could smell her fear, but it wasn't fear of him. Even though he was towering over her threateningly she had no doubt whatsoever that he wouldn't harm her.

The blue haired woman tried to pull out of Vegeta's arms but the angel held her in check, his own eyes dark and furious as he took in the sight of his greatest enemy standing before over him with blazing eyes. He could feel the very might and power of hell itself bearing down at him in that gaze but his faith kept him steady.

Goku too could feel all of Vegeta's emotions as though they were physical things in the air around him. He could feel his revulsion, his anger…and strangely enough he could also feel a yearning within Vegeta. Something inside of the angel wanted what Goku had, it wasn't envy exactly, it was a faint shadowy wish to be what Goku was and had what he had. The feeling was almost nonexistent, but Goku was able to read it – almost taste it – as it trickled from the angel.

In a way it wasn't surprising, he and Vegeta had been best friends until the separation of the angels. They had spent more time together then apart, everything they did they had done together and they had been equals in every sense of the word. Yet as much as Vegeta refused to acknowledge it, Goku was seen universally to be of higher status. It didn't matter that in heaven Goku was the lowest of the lows, all that mattered was that on Earth the devil was revered, and Vegeta had spent far too much time on the mortal plane of existence for some of that not to have rubbed off onto him.

"Vegeta! Let go of me!" Bulma struggled in the angel's grasp, but her more then ample bulk, weak strength and gigantic stomach hindered her attempts. Despite her thrashing and clear desperation to be free of him Vegeta held her close, not willing to relinquish the only woman he'd ever loved to the dark side. _Everything he had done he had done for the good of all mankind – including her!_

"Yes Vegeta, let the mother of my child go free." Goku rumbled as he stepped closer to the remains of the bathtub, his liquid black eyes holding dancing pinpoints of hell light in them and his entire body trembling ever-so-slightly with a power that Vegeta had never felt the likes of before.

The threat was clear: _Let Bulma go…OR ELSE!_

Out of the corner of his eye Vegeta could see the desperation in Bulma's face as she fought to get closer to the Prince of Lies. How could she not see that he was using her? Perhaps deep down Goku felt something akin to love…but it wasn't the pure love that he had been made to feel. His love was a terrible thing, a horrible thing and it disgusted Vegeta to even imagine that his love would fee like.

He wanted to force Bulma to see the truth, for her to realise that for all of Goku's promises nothing would ever come of their relationship. He was a two faced lying bastard who had felt no remorse at slaying his fellow angels during the first battle for Heaven. He had murdered his brothers and sisters in cold blood over something as petty as the Earth! 

But somehow he didn't think that Bulma would listen to him. She had a look of complete and utter surrender in her eyes – a look that spoke of an obsession too old and too ingrained in her soul to ever be washed away. The Bulma in this life had known Goku only a few short days and she was already hopelessly in love with him – and it was love. Even Vegeta couldn't deny the emotion that Bulma radiated; she loved Goku with the kind of devotion that the world rarely ever saw.

            Until this very moment he hadn't realised that Bulma was lost.

            Vegeta released Bulma abruptly and sprang to his feet, using his body to shield the blue haired female from Goku's piercing gaze. Although he was nearly a foot short then the devil he wasn't going to be intimidated by how imposing he was, after all, Goku had no one to back him up while Vegeta had the Lord on his side. He stood there waiting for Goku to make his move, almost trembling with the relief he felt at finally facing his enemy face to face. He'd been waiting for this final fight through all of his mortal lives…

            "It doesn't have to be this way, you know." Goku drawled, smiling indulgently at Vegeta and thinking to himself that for all of the angel's righteous anger and God-found strength he looked about as threatening as a small yappy dog.

            "Yes it does." Vegeta lowered his head but kept his dark eyes squarely on Goku, never once letting his guard down. "From the moment you betrayed us we were destined to meet in battle." He dropped into a fighting stance, the familiar pose serving to quieten his nerves to an extent.

            Goku's smile stretched into a grin and he chuckled softly. "Perhaps, but it doesn't mean that I want to fight you, now does it? You and I, Vegeta, were once the best of friends…and we could be again." The devil tilted his head to the side, so confident in his own ability that he didn't bother to raise his own guard. "Everything I have," Goku continued, his eyes gazing touching on Bulma behind him before looking back to Vegeta, "could be yours. All you have to do is join me."

            For a hellish second Vegeta felt temptation, like a cold monstrous hand, clawing inside of him. Everything that he was guilty of lusting after, of feeling envious of and of being greedy for was something that Goku had and _was_ offering to him. Money, power, fame…_Bulma_?…everything that he dreamed of was suddenly within his grasp.

_            But at what cost?_

            Vegeta shivered as the thought snuck into his head, planted there, no doubt, by some greater power to keep him on the path of righteousness. He quickly prayed inwardly for forgiveness, for almost succumbing to the dark side, and then he allowed the fury he felt at how close he had come to surrendering well up side of him and fuel his desire to fight.

            "Never! I will never join you!" Vegeta spat venomously, clenching his teeth and fists as Goku laughed at his response.

            "So _you_ say, Vegeta." The fallen angel bared perfect white teeth at the other in a mockery of a smile. "Once last chance – join me, or die."

            There was a silence for profound that every breath the inhabitants of the room took could be heard clearly. Even Bulma, who until that moment had been struggling to climb to her feet paused and waited, the silence weighting her down as though it was a physical things. Seconds stretched into minutes and still nothing was said, for when eventually words were spoken it would be either a death sentence or damnation.

Finally Vegeta spoke  the one word that everyone was dreading to hear; "_Never_."

And that was that…

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**A/N – Probably not the cool long chapter you were all hanging out for…but it was the best I could do given the circumstances. I for one can't wait to finish the next chapter off (yes I've already started writing it…!) Thanks for reading, tell your friends and don't forget to drop me a line and tell me what you thought of the chapter!**


	15. The Birth

_Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, however this plot and all subsequent original characters are my property and may not be used by other people without my consent (sorry it came to this but badly written knock-off's off this fic are starting to spring up.)_

_**Author Note: ****Shame on me for not updating sooner…and not even updating longer. Sorry. I got caught up in another fanfic…and to be truthful it didn't seem fair to force myself to write this fic when my heart wasn't in it. I am sorry. I hate authors who do this to people…I guess now at least I can understand why they do it.**_

**_I have EVERY intention of finishing this fanfic! You can be assured of that!_**

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Goku smiled faintly at Vegeta, an amused little grin that slid over his mouth but never reached his eyes. His handsome face seemed mocking…but infinitely sad somehow. Bulma wasn't sure how she sensed it, but she could feel something akin to remorse at Vegeta choosing death over a partner ship with him. Some part of Goku wanted his old friend to be with them – as friend or lover Bulma wasn't sure, but Goku wanted Vegeta.

Bulma swallowed hastily as she realised that she really _was_ sensing Goku's emotions. It was like smelling something in the air or tasting something on your tongue. She could feel his emotions in her head and running down her spine like textured material rubbing against her skin.

_It had to be the child doing this to her…_

"Do you hear me?"

Bulma jumped as Vegeta's voice crashed through her mind and shook her from the stupor she had been in. How long had she been staring into space? She felt strange…something felt _wrong_. She raised pained eyes as a trembling, aching and abruptly sharp pain spasmed down her back and through her stomach, forcing her to grit her teeth to keep herself from crying out aloud.

_She could not let Vegeta kill her baby! _

The thought came at her out of the blue and she instinctively wrapped her arms around her huge stomach as Vegeta growled and stepped forward towards Goku, his eyes flickering from Bulma to Goku and back again as though he was suddenly unsure which of them was the most dangerous. "I said I would _never_ join you! Death would be a pleasure compared to the sin you just offered to me."

"On the contrary, _Vegeta_." Goku's voice slid like silk over Bulma's skin, soothing the pain that was wracking her tiny frame. "Your death will be nothing like the pleasure of the so called '_sin'_ that I offer." His voice caressed her gently, rubbing along her skin like a great big purring cat. Did it feel like this to Vegeta? Did Goku's voice wrap itself around him in such a…physical way?

"Stop it!"

Vegeta's sharp intake of breath and his growling unhappy tone gave Bulma all the answers she needed – Goku was using his voice on them both, but with two different effects. While Bulma was soothed by the obvious sensual quality in it, it seemed to terrify Vegeta far more then it should have. His revulsion of what he could feel in Goku's voice was so utterly complete that he lost the advantage his fighting stance had had over Goku's loose pose, and he stumbled back a step with is hands raised as though to ward it off.

There was another pause in which the room seemed to spin slowly and everything slowed down – in that time Bulma felt her child stirring within her. Twisting and turning like some kind of strange alien symbiont that wanted out of its host. She groaned slightly and in that moment Vegeta turned his eyes to hers, a small frown on his face as he saw the pain on Bulma's.

_"Bulma…?"_

He stepped towards Bulma, somehow his concern for Bulma overriding his concern about Goku. Instantly a small blur was upon Vegeta – a small childlike shape with long talons that was silhouetted in a lightning flash - and a demonic giggling sound vibrated through the air like broken glass along a blackboard. Bulma shut her eyes and groaned as another spasm wrenched it's way down her body, squeezing at her chest and stomach and shredding at her insides. Distantly she heard Vegeta scream- not in pain but in _fear_. She tried to open her eyes to see what was happening but the light in the room was too dim and another contraction in her stomach caused her eyes to fly shut.

Time returned to its normal speed and a sound like two fighting, snarling beasts filled the air. A million thoughts crammed themselves in Bulma's mind –_ was this the baby coming? Was it supposed to hurt this much this fast? Weren't contractions supposed to have long gaps in between? Why wasn't anyone helping her? It hurt so much…so much…why was it happening so fast? _A terrible long scream was torn from Bulma's throat as a piercing pain shot through her abdomen, the sharp tight pain stabbing at her from the inside out. She could feel wetness between her legs…had her water broken or was it blood…_it hurt!_

**_Don't fight me..._**

Bulma shied away from the voice in her head – so calm and competent. Around her she could still hear the sounds of fighting, interspersed with drabbles of demonic laughter or grunts of pain – some sounds were feminine and some were decidedly masculine, but all of the sounds blended into a swirling cataclysmic pool of noise which kicked and bit at Bulma's head, worsening the horrible convulsions she could feel coming from within her. Sobbing, Bulma realised she was lying on her back and that that position was making everything hurt so much more…with a strength that she didn't know she had she somehow managed to turn herself over and she crouched on all fours, not caring how undignified she looked as long as the pain went away.

As the storm raged outside and the battle between the angel and the demon waged, Bulma cried silently as tremors and spasms made their way up and down her back and al through her stomach. Time lost all meaning to her – there was simply pain, pain and nothing else.

"Does it hurt?" A tiny voice, spoken by a tiny girl who was crouched next to her, her brilliant blue eyes wide as she stared at Bulma with fascination. She reached out a hand and Bulma flinched away – recognising something bad and evil in those magnificent eyes.

_How could she see the child in the dark?_

Her child however moved about within her as though it recognised this girl's presence.

_Was the child allowing her to see through the darkness?_

"Master!" The childish voice was full of joy and those glorious blue eyes widened in pleasure as the child squirmed within her.

"Get away…from me!" Bulma gasped out as the child wriggled inside of her just as another contraction hit. Dimly she wondered if the contractions might kill the child – they seemed to be so tight and violent. As much as she felt dislike for the pain the child was causing her, she couldn't fell anything other then protective of the life within her.

_How could something so young and small be so evil?_

The girl smiled and straightened to her full height, laughing softly before vanishing back into the darkness of the room – her childish giggling one again dancing mockingly around the room as she cavorted with Goku, both of them viciously toying with Vegeta. She returned to Bulma's side before long, sitting cross-legged next to her and watching with pure fascination as Bulma's child struggled to break free of its mother's body.

_"Damn you!" _

Bulma's eyes opened as she heard Goku's voice, and she realised that could _see_ them, through the soupy darkness, as though everything was as clear as day. It wasn't just the girl she could see now – it was all of them, as though they glowed from the inside. She could see Goku, surrounded by a dark black aura as he dodged a rather futile attack by Vegeta, seizing him with clawed hands and rammed him into the bathroom wall, the force of the motion propelling Vegeta several inches into the wall's plaster and shattering the tiling.

Bleeding wounds traced Goku's beautiful body – letting Bulma know that while she'd been in agony they must have been ferociously fighting, so much so that neither of them had noticed what was happening to her. How long had she been this like? It didn't feel like long…but_, oh_…the pain was so horrible that at the same time it felt like forever! She wanted to scream at them both to stop this futile fighting, but the noise of the storm would have drowned out any sound she's have made.

Snarling, Vegeta shoved himself away from the wall and began to gather strange glowing particles of light in his hands, the glow gathered strength and the entire room were illuminated. A roaring sound filled her ears as the atmosphere in the room seemed to tense – literally tense as though there was electricity in the air – and then she met Vegeta's eyes and everything seemed to pause, again the angel seemed to forget about Goku as he watched her.

"Bulma?"

The power didn't fade around Vegeta, if anything it began to gather more intensely in his hands, but his attention wasn't where it should have been and when Goku growled and hurled himself at him, he hit him full on, ignoring any pain he might have felt as the light surrounding Vegeta hissed like burning acid when Goku came in contact with it.

Vegeta's scream of agony as Goku quickly punched him in the neck and almost crushed his windpipe was almost drowned out by Goku's own feral cries as the light seared into him – burning his flesh in the same way that sunlight can roast a vampire. The two of them clung to one another, Vegeta trying to push as much as the angelic energy into Goku as he could, and Goku trying to claw and attack any part of Vegeta that he could. Blood splattered onto the bathroom tiles, blue blood and red blood – both types hissing and burning through the tiles the moment they splashed onto it.

"Rimmon!" Goku's voice rose into the air with a sound like the beating of a hundred bird wings. It pushed at the confines of the room and disappeared in the roar of thunder. The noise of their fight, although deafening to Bulma, was drowned out by the roaring sound that was filling her ears like the sound of an oncoming freight train. The room seemed to shake, the ground trembled beneath her and the roof of the bathroom seemed to lift of it's own accord and rise into the night, disappearing into a swirling mass of twisted green and black clouds.

Through the empty hole where the roof had been a creature descended, cloaked in howling wind and lashing rain – a tall bony creature who's pale blotchy orange skin and long slimy black hair marked it as the same demon that Bulma had _seen_ outside with her child's powers. It landed delicately, hissing like a demonic jungle cat at the sight of Vegeta and, when Goku called its name again, threw itself into the fray with blind obedience, slashing and clawing with a demonic violence that seemed to be inherent in all of the demons Bulma had met.

Bulma screamed as she saw one of its talons connect with Vegeta's neck. There was a great splurge of blood…and Bulma closed her eyes. Not wanting to see anything that happened from this point on…she loved them both, God help her, she loved Vegeta and Goku and dint want either to die. She couldn't watch anymore.

The pain inside of her was growing and growing, pushing outwards and down and squeezing like a horrible hand. It took all the will power Bulma had not to simply drop to the ground and scream and scream and scream with the pain of it all.

"Oh God…God!" Bulma sobbed and screamed as the pain reached a crescendo and everything else around her became insignificant compared to the agony she was feeling. She could feel her baby slowly being expelled from her body…but the pain was so intense…so exhausting…that she couldn't seem to think of anything other then getting it out of her and stopping the pain.

The pain seemed to continue for hours although considering how fast the baby had gestated it was probably on minutes. Finally, after an agony that had sapped all of her strength, she could feel the baby slowly slipping through her body…pushing it's way through her body…being squeezed out. Bulma could feel the small girl touching her gently, almost reverently as her body heaved and with a scream the child finally fell from her body into the girls waiting hands.

Instantly Bulma collapsed - the pain was still strong but it was too much to remain in her position, she simply didn't have enough strength. Her body was still contracting – pushing out liquid and the placenta – but the pain was slowly abating. Fading. Leaving.

Lightning cracked overhead and rain abruptly began to pour down on them harder. As the pain slowly left her body, Bulma was able to hear the sounds of fighting again – desperate sounds. Bulma groaned and felt herself being pulled by one arm under more cover, she looked up to find the small girl crouched over her holding the child. It was a small red baby with a surprisingly large tuft of black hair.

_It wasn't crying._

It was staring at Bulma with the same chilling blue eyes that had hunted her in her dream. Eyes that stared at her, not with the innocence of a child, but with the same knowledge that she'd often seen looking out of Goku's two black orbs - something alluring and yet frightening.

"He's so beautiful." The brown haired girl cuddled him closely, settling down near Bulma she looked at the new mother curiously, her childish blue eyes wandering all over her body. Distantly Bulma realised she was naked…when she had lost her clothes? Who had…?

"Who undressed me?" She felt so weak and faint. Almost empty without the buzzing of her chid within her. Funny, she hadn't even been aware of how much noise there had been inside of her head from the baby until it had been taken away.

"I took your clothes from you." The young girl tilted her head and jiggled the baby gently, soothing it even though the child was perfectly calm and still. "Clothes would have impeded our new lords entry into the world."

Bulma nodded, watching as the rain steadily beat down through the roof, trickling down the wall and pooling all over the crushed tiles. It was much lighter now, not because of the enhanced vision which the child had gifted her with earlier, but because the sun was slowly rising. Just enough to cast some dim lighting across the room and enough for Bulma to see that Vegeta and Gou had moved out of the room.

There was blood all over the floor – she wasn't sure whose blood was who's. Some of it was hers, there was a huge pool of blood and liquid and other messy lumps where she had been crouched. There was also blue and red blood splashed all of the floor and walls where Vegeta had been pinned into the wall earlier…had Vegeta always had blue blood? She had always seen him bleed red?

"You think too loudly." The girl smiled down at her, a chilling, pitying smile that matched the cold and calculating look in her eyes. "For someone who was once almost equal to Goku in power and knowledge you certainly can be simple."

"What?" _Could this girl read her thoughts?_

"Of course I can." She nodded slowly, answering Bulma's unasked question. "Vegeta's blood is blue because he is fighting in his angelic form." She sighed, a long-suffering sigh of boredom. "I do not know what it is that our lord sees in you, or why he chose you to be the mother of the child. You have been so affected by your time on Earth as a mortal that you have forgotten everything that was once important to you."

"Who are you?" Bulma narrowed her eyes – the girls voice was taking on a familiar tone. She didn't know who this girl was, she had definitely never seen her before, but there was something in her manner that was disturbingly familiar. It felt like _deja vu._

She chuckled childishly. "You see?" She laughed. "You have forgotten _everything_." The girl stood up, still rocking the baby. "I am Proserpine, servant to the Dark Lord and the demoness of Destruction."

"I see." And Bulma _did see_. She could remember little of what heaven was like but the name of Proserpine conjured up an image of a beautiful woman with long black hair and glowing eyes. An angelic creature that had been cast from heaven because of her disloyalty in the war and her inability to fight solely for God – she was not the demoness of destruction for nothing and had killed many people and destroyed many lives during the turbulent years in heaven.

Bulma forced herself to concentrate and not slip off into thought as Proserpine watched her thoughtfully. "Do you want to hold him?" She offered.

Bulma nodded and, smiling softly, Proserpine lowered the child into Bulma's waiting arms. She tilted her head as she watched the son snuggle into his mother's hold, sensing from the child a bizarre satisfaction. Perhaps from the corruption of innocence? No. Bulma was not corrupt – at least not in the way that she should have been. The child was simply happy to be in his mother's grasp.

**_Protection._**

Proserpine nodded to herself as she understood the thoughts running through the anti-Christs head. Bulma's inability to believe that her son was evil meant that she would protect him from the forces of good with all her strength. She may not have been strong compared to some of the angelic powers that could be thrown at her, but she would die before allowing her son to die. Her love, although misguided, was the one thing that would _always_ protect the child until he was able to protect himself.

"Smart." Proserpine muttered, stretching as she listening to the dimming sounds of battle. Vegeta was not yet dead, perhaps he would not completely, but he was losing and losing badly. Soon Goku would return and he would take Bulma to a safe place – a place where their son would be safe to grow.

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**_A/N – Possibly not the chapter that people were looking forward too – however it is an important chapter because it deals with the birth. I can't write pregnancy well, never having been pregnant before so don't give me crap about labour pains. It's a demonic labour and a demonic birth – different to human birth. Anyway, I shall be trying to update this fanfic more often now that I'm available to write a little more often – I enjoy this story and want to finish it. So I shall! Let me know what you think and remember that feedback of any kind if always appreciated._**


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